Little Bella Cullen
by tammyxcullen
Summary: Bella is found by the Cullens when she is 3 and is all alone after her family dies from a car crash. She grows up in a house full of vampires. Funny.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Chapter One

They told me that they found me on one rainy night. I was three, and was the only survivor of a car crash that killed my entire family: my mom, my dad, my little brother, my aunt and my uncle. All of my grandparents had died before I was born. So I was completely alone.

We were all in my dad's SUV, one snowy night in December, in Forks, Washington. My dad was making a right hand turn, and didn't see the layers of ice covering the road. The car slid and toppled over, and kept turning and turned, until it hit a tree. Everyone in the car had suffering a painful death. Necks, legs, backs, arms; all broken. Since I was secured safely to my baby seat, and thankfully the car stopped upright, I was only harmed with a few seat belt bruises. I was in the middle of the back seat so no windows broke on me, like my aunt and uncle. My little brother was being held by my mother in the passenger seat, and fell out of her grasp when the car was flipping. I didn't know where I was, but I knew that no one in that car responded when I started crying non stop.

I cried for five minutes, until I heard soft voices outside the car. I stopped crying and looked out the window to see four people out in the distance.

"Edward, you get her. You have to most control." A lady said, but I couldn't make out any features, just that she had dark hair, and a small body.

"No I don't, Alice. You do." One of the guys said.

"She's right, you know," said a blonde.

"Fine", he said with a sigh. He came up to the window, and fast. He ripped the seat belt, pulled me out, and ran away from the car, all before I could blink my eyes. He let out a breath, and handed me to Alice.

When I looked at all of them, all I could do is blink. They were all beautiful. One really big boy with brown hair, one girl with blonde hair who was inhumanely beautiful, one with black hair and wide eyes, and the last one had a bronze hair. The last one, the one who actually saved me, looked so stunning; I couldn't take my eyes off him.

"I think she likes you, Edward." Alice laughed. I reached my hand out to touch his face, because I couldn't believe that his amount of attractiveness was even possible. I grabbed his nose with one small hand, not minding the cold, and the other one poked his eyes. I giggled. The face he was making was so funny. I put both of my hands in his hair. I started patting his hair to his head, while everyone else giggled at me. Alice pushed me into Edward's arms, so I play with his hair more. I pulled at the ends causing him to flinch. I was so preoccupied with playing with Edward's hair, face and ears that I didn't even notice that they were all talking. Talking very fast.

"Ohhhhh, Edward." Alice whined. "She's sooooo cute. And she just adores you. Can we please keep her?"

"No, Alice." Edward said firmly. "A house full of vampires is hardly the place to raise a child."

The brown haired one finally spoke. "But Edward, we would have so much fun with her." Edward growled. "But she would stay completely safe."

"I doubt she would be safe around you, Emmett." Edward shot at what I supposed was Emmett.

"Oh but Edward she's so cute!" The blonde said.

"That's beside the point, Rosalie. She would freak out if she found out about our diet."

"What is your name?" Alice asked me patiently.

"Isabella." I said loudly. I was enjoying Edward's hair a lot. It seemed to be relaxing me, after I just witnessed my whole families' deaths. "But my parents and my friends all call me Bella. I like Bella better." I giggled once again when I touched Edward's long eyelashes. My other hand was at Edward's mouth. He opened his mouth the say something, my index finger fell inside. "Ewww. I touched your tongue." I said as another fit of giggles passed.

Alice started laughing. Emmett reached out to hold me, but put his arms down when my eyes widened at how big he was. Already distracted from Edward, I looked back over to my dad's car. Tears streamed down my cheeks, as I remember what just happened. I started sobbing, soaking Edward's shirt.

"I wanna go home." I screamed. They were still talking, but a little more urgently now.

"Let's bring just her to Carlisle he will know what to do." Alice finally said. Edward sighed and started walking me to their car. When we got in I wouldn't let go to Edward, so Emmett had to drive.

We arrived at the hospital.

"What happened?" A blonde man said. He was probably in his mid twenties.

Edward looked down at me. "You're going to hang out with Rosalie and Emmett for a while. Alright, Bella?" I nodded okay.

I sat on Rosalie's lap and played with her long, shiny, blonde hair. Emmett asked me funny questions.

"So do you have a dog, Bella?"

"No."

"Do you want a dog?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"My mom is allergic." When I said this he stopped asking questions.

After twenty minutes, Carlisle, Alice, and Edward came back. I ran to Edward, and tripped in front of his feet. I got up, with my face as red as a tomato, and grabbed Edward. I was only almost three feet so I only hugged his thigh. They all laughed.

"Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any family that was not in the car?"

I thought for a moment and came up blank. I shook my head. "Not that I know of. Carlisle talked with Edward for a minutes. I couldn't hear what they were saying. "Are they all dead?" Everyone looked down to me.

Alice bent down, and said "Yes, Bella. Your mom, your dad, your brother, your uncle, and your aunt are all dead."

"So I'm all alone?" Tearing started coming down my cheeks again. "Please don't leave me. Please. I don't want to live by myself. Can I live with you guys?" I asked hesitantly. I knew I was asking a lot but the idea of living alone scared me.

"Do you want to live with us Bella?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes. Would Edward be with me?"

Edward looked down. "Yes I would."

"Then I want to go home. With you guys." I grabbed Edward's leg more tightly.

They led me to a small room. They sat me down on a chair and Edward leaned down in front of me.

"Bella," he started out slowly. "I know you want to live with us, but before you make up your mind, you have to know something about our nature."

"Okay."

"Do you know what vampires are?"

"Yes. My mom and I use to watch Scooby-Doo and there were vampires in it all the time." I said cheerfully, thinking I knew something very important.

"Tell me what you know about vampires."

"They drink blood, which is really cool." That got a smile from Emmett. "They are really strong, and can turn into bats. They sleep in coffins, and can only go out at night." Then everyone started laughing except Edward.

"Bella, this is very important. Myself, and my family are all vampires." He said hesitantly.

"Do I also have to sleep in a coffin? Can mine be purple?" I asked. They all were shocked at my response.

"No, you don't have to sleep in a coffin. We don't sleep in coffins. We don't sleep at all."

"Don't you get tired?"

"That's why we drink blood. So we don't get tired." He carefully watched my expression.

"I don't really like blood. Can I have food?" They were still shocked.

"Yes, of course you can have food. We don't drink people's blood. We drink animal blood. So you don't have to worry about us hurting you."

"Okay. Speaking of food, I'm kind of hungry. Do you have anything to eat?" Emmett stood up and went to look for food in the cabinets. He found pop tarts.

"Hmm…I love pop tarts!" I cried excitedly. I bit a corner off of one, and started chewing. I stopped when I saw everyone looking expectedly at me.

I hesitated. "Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want some? I thought you guys wouldn't like human food. I can't imagine how blood would taste good, but I guess you're different from me."

"No thanks. We're fine." Rosalie replied. After I was done I was hit by a wave of extreme exhaustion.

"Can we go home now? I'm kind of tired." They were all still looking at me.

"Yeah sure. We can go shopping for clothes later." Alice chirped.

"Ugh, shopping?" They all laughed.

"Yep." She popped the p in yep.

I slept in the back of the car until Edward shook me and said, "We're home."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

When I walked into the house, I gasped. It was so big! When Alice took me to what she said was my room, my face fell. There was nothing there. Alice saw this and started laughing.

"Silly Bella, we still have to paint and furnish your room. You can stay in Edward's room until it's finished." I brightened up at the idea of sharing a room with Edward.

"I don't wanna sleep with Edward though." I said quietly.

"Remember Bella, vampires don't need sleep."

"Oh right!" Alice gave some clothes that were too big on me.

I walked into Edward's room. One of the walls was an entire window. I walked to it to look out but hesitated at the edge, thinking I might fall. Edward walked in and started to cover the window with the curtains.

"No, I like the window."

"But the sun will wake you up. You can sleep in tomorrow." I nodded okay.

I walked across the room to the bed; I sat down and faced Edward.

"Do you hate having me live with you?" I asked timidly.

"No, of course not. I love having you here. I just don't think it's the safest thing for you." He replied sincerely.

"It's okay. I have you to protect me." Edward tucked me in, and leaned down to kiss my forehead.

"Goodnight, Bella. Sleep tight."

"Goodnight, Edward. Ummm…have fun. I guess." He chuckled and turned off the lights.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**Author's note: Sorry I forgot to write this before but these are Stephenie Meyer's characters, and even though I wish I could own them, I will survive with just borrowing them. Oh and a thanks to TwilightFanatic01. I realized that Bella is only three and can't comprehend as well as a teenager. This is actually Bella retelling the story, but three year olds still don't talk like that. **

Chapter Three

I got introduced to the entire family after I woke up. There was Rosalie and Emmett, Jasper and Alice, Mom and Dad, and then Edward. I still like Edward the best. When Mom tried talking to me about my family, Edward was there comforting me as the tears poured down my face. I told her about everyone, and that I would miss them a lot. But I soon got over it, when Jasper and Emmett offered to take me out to get ice cream. Edward came along too because I wouldn't let go of his hand.

"Ice cream for breakfast?" Edward said disapprovingly.

"Oh shush Edward. It's fine. I love ice cream. And cookies, and cake, and pies. Oh and I _love _cupcakes!" I picked out Triple Chocolate Fudge.

"You guys don't want any ice cream?" I asked them shocked.

"Bella, I thought we went over this. We don't like human food." Edward said patiently.

"But this is ice cream, Edward! How can you not like ice cream? Just try some." I pointed my ice cream to him. He looked at it disgustedly, and then shook his head.

"Fine. But you don't know what you're missing."

When we got home my room was painted lavender and all my furniture for my room stood outside in the hallway. I jumped up and down while squealing and clapping my hands. Soon, Alice came in and starting jumping and squealing with me.

"I love it", I shouted. I tried climbing onto the bed, but fell down because it was too high. Edward had to help me up. I laid on the bed and I felt like I was sinking in.

"I even bought you new clothes while I was out!" Alice showed me my closet and it was now full. "I'll pick out your outfit for today while you take a bath." The idea of a bath excited me. I always loved bath time, especially since mommy would always tickle me and play games with me.

I waited for Alice by the door of the bathroom, while Edward looked at me, confused. "Is there something wrong, Bella?" He asked.

"No. I'm waiting for Alice."

"For what?"

"For bath time, silly."

"Ummm…Alice?" Edward called out to Alice.

"Yeah?" She said as she walked back in the room with a flowery orange dress in her hands.

"I think Bella needs help with her bath." He said hesitantly. I just stood there, wondering why they both looked so uncomfortable.

"Are you coming, Alice?" I asked as I started to open the bathroom door.

"Uh, yeah, I'm coming." I saw her give a pleadingly look to Edward. "Can you call Esme. I don't really know what to do."

I started to take my clothes off as Alice turned on the water. Esme and Rosalie walked in.

"Hey Bella. We're here to help you with bath time." Rosalie said.

I had the most fun time every with bath time. Alice washed my hair, while Rosalie washed my body, and Esme was playing and talking with me.

"So Bella, what does your mommy usually do at bath time?" Esme asked.

"Well she usually tickles me when I least expect it." I giggled remembering how even though I knew I was gonna be tickled I still was surprised.

"Like now?" Esme said quickly and started tickling me on my stomach. I was laughing so hard now. And then Rosalie started washing my feet, which made me even more ticklish.

I walked out of the bathroom with a towel on and a big grin on my face. Alice handed me the dress and I started to put it on.

When I walked downstairs Esme made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I bit into it hungrily.

"So Bella what do you think about signing you up for preschool today?" Alice asked me.

I made a face. "But it's the summer." I complained.

"Well we sign you up today and you start in the fall." Alice explained.

"Okay, I guess." I took another very big bite of my sandwich. My cheeks bulged out because I took too big of a bite.

"Ohhh, she's soo cute!" Rosalie exclaimed.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

These last three years had been the most fun years of my life. Everyone was so nice to me. Alice cut my hair, ad gave me bangs. I like them a lot. But she says that they need to be cut every two weeks, otherwise they will get in my eyes. Edward played music for me on his piano. He tried teaching me, but I can't remember where the keys are. He says that I just need practice. Emmett always plays with me. He picks me up and swings me all around. Rosalie colors with me a lot. She always colors inside the lines; I don't know how she does it. Jasper and I usually play outside a lot. He throws me a ball, I usually drop it. He laughs and just tells me that we will keep working on it. Mommy (**A/N: she got use to calling Esme mommy**) talks to me a lot while she cooks for me. She's not a very good cook, but I see her practicing a lot. Daddy (**A/N: Carlisle**) reads to me every night before I go to bed and tucks me in. If Daddy is at the hospital, Rosalie would read to me. I woke up in the morning to Emmett screaming at me.

"BELLA! Get up! I've got big news!" Emmett jumped on my bed, and started shaking me.

I moaned. "What?"

"We're getting a pool! Jasper wants to teach you how to swim!" Now I got up and screamed.

"YAY!" I jumped up on my bed and started jumping. Alice came in and started laughing at the sight of us.

"Okay, kids, time for breakfast." Alice headed out of the room with a smile on her face. Emmett picked me up and threw me over his shoulders, pretending like we were flying. He set me down in my usual chair at the dining table. Mommy put a plate of pancakes in front of me.

"Hmm." I said as I took my first bite. Thankfully, Mommy practiced making pancakes a lot so now they were one of her best meals.

"So I'm guessing you heard about the pool?" Edward asked with a smile.

"Yep, and I'm so excited. I can't wait to start swimming. But isn't it gonna be too cold for swimming?"

"It's an indoor pool. Carlisle is also constructing an addition to the house."

Just then, I heard a truck coming into our driveway. I opened the door, and I saw some construction people taking measurements of our backyard. "What are they doing?" I asked Edward.

"Just planning out where the pool is going to go." Edward replied as Jasper walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Bella. What do you think of the new pool?" Jasper asked.

"I love it! Thank you so much Jasper." I ran to him and gave him a huge hug.

"Haha. You're welcome. Do you want to learn how to swim?"

"Yes! I can't wait. I can't remember the last time I went swimming. It was so long ago."

"Bella! You know what I just realized!" Alice asked excitedly.

"What Alice?" It scares me sometimes to see Alice so excited.

"To go swimming, you need a bathing suit! And that means bathing suit shopping!" Alice grabbed my hands and started jumping up and down.

"Alice you know that the pool won't actually be finished for about six months, right?" Jasper said.

"Doesn't matter. There is no such thing as shopping too early."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

So tomorrow is the day: the day that the pool would finally be finished. I was so excited to hear about the pool, I would check in on the progress of the pool everyday, even the days that the construction workers had off. It was beautiful. It was 20 by 10 meters long, half the size of an Olympic pool, with five lanes, and a diving board and diving block. I couldn't sleep all night in anticipation of the new pool.

I woke up early in the morning to see a warm, blue pool waiting for me. I changed into one of my speedos, and ran towards the pool. I was about to jump in before Daddy caught me.

"We need to go over some rules before we start to use the pool." He said and led me back to the living room, where the whole family waited.

"Dad," I whined. "I'm eight years old; I know how to use a swimming pool."

"Bella, I'm over a hundred years old, and I'm still here," Edward said. I sighed, and knew I couldn't say anything back.

"Okay kids, here are some of the rules for the pool:

One, most important rule of all, remember that Bella is human and that she needs to breathe regularly. That means you, Emmett. No dunking her, drowning her, pushing her in, holding her head under the water, and no who-can-hold-their-breathe-the-longest contests. Two, you need proper swim attire. So that means no pushing or throwing someone in that is fully dressed, Emmett. Three, when Bella is using the pool for training, there is to be no interruptions. Four, if you want music playing while you swim, put it on the stereo system, don't bring a stereo, because if it falls in, Bella would be electrocuted. And last of all, if I hear any of you are breaking the rules, especially the ones that include Bella being hurt; you will clean the whole house, while everyone else gets to swim, Emmett."

"Hey! How come all of those rules were pointed at me?" Emmett asked sweetly.

"Because the only reason that we're here is so that you get informed about your boundaries." Everyone laughed because they knew I was right.

"Okay, you guys. Go to the pool!" Carlisle shouted. Because everyone just raced outside to get to the pool, everyone forgot about the human with human speed. So Edward came and picked me up and ran me outside.

"Thank you, Edward. Apparently, you are the only one who remembered me." He laughed and pushed me into the pool.

He pushed me into the deep end, so I was enveloped in water. It felt so nice. When my head reached the surface, everyone was already in the pool. We played chicken, and held races. Edward always won. Not only was he the fastest runner, but he was now the fastest swimmer. We spent the entire day in the pool. By the time it was dark, I was so tired.

The next morning when I woke up, it was Jasper on my bed. "Are you reading to start practicing?" He asked excitedly.

"Practicing what?" I replied sleepily.

"Swimming, we should probably learn that before we start water polo."

"Water polo?" I asked nervously. "Isn't that a very…physical sport?" I meant, referring to what I know about water polo.

"Of course, that's why you will have to be strong, since you are not very big." He laughed, probably thinking how easy it would be for another girl to take me down.

Jasper taught me how to swim freestyle and breaststroke. He said that next weekend we will start on backstroke and butterfly. I was actually enjoying the two hour swim practice. It was fun with Jasper who was patient with me. He seemed happy that I was picking up the strokes fast.

During the week, I would practice for about half an hour and then start on my homework. Apparently, the whole family thought I was improving, because they would watch my practices a lot.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

**A/N: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! Even though I was never like that, living with an older brother, you find out things very fast, I can imagine naïve Bella, horrified at all the information. Haha. Sorry I haven't written a lot before, but the years of Bella as a child are just so boring, it was hard to come up with anything original, especially when I have a "talent" for making a 3 year old sound like a teenager. Sarcasm**

**I have just been really busy with water polo (yes, that is where I got Bella's sport, I hate running, too) and summer school. Even though my summer school is only 12 days, its 5 hours a day. Not fun. **

"Hey Bella!" Becky called me. I stopped and turned around to see tiny Becky, with her cheeks red from running, stop in front of me.

"What's up Becky?"

"Umm…in science class, you know how all sixth graders have to go through sex education?" She asked timidly.

"Yeah," I said carefully.

"Well, today is our day." She said.

"Oh, no."

"Yeah, I'm just trying to warn you. I had it first period and it's awful." She looked genuinely concerned.

"Thanks, Becky. But I'm not worried, I know a lot about sex." I replied confidently.

"Okay, well, I warned you." With that, Becky walked off.

Apparently there was a lot about sex that I didn't know. Like the different types of sex I could not believe my ears, or my eyes for that matter. We saw diagrams, models, and pictures. All were worse than the last. I couldn't believe that my mom, dad, brothers, and sisters, all knew about this. After that class, I walked out into the hallway, and couldn't help but look at the boys, and place them in all the pictures I was shown. Oh my God, now I really knew what Emmett and Rosalie were doing in their room. I don't think I will ever look at my family the same way again. I knew what sex was, and I knew the initial directions, he goes in her, she gets pregnant, but today, I learned ALL of the details, everything from boners, to douching, to the clitoris. And to think, that all that _stuff _is inside of me! Oh god, and to think about all the guys, and their penis just makes me so uncomfortable. At lunch I went to sit next to Becky.

"Becky, you were totally right. It was horrible, terrible, excruciating."

"I tried to warn you, Bella, but I think you are traumatized enough without me having to say I told you so." I put my head on the table, and decided that I wasn't hungry. Everything just reminded me of _other things_.

The end of the school could not have come slower. Since the girls were out hunting, and Carlisle was at work, Jasper, Emmett, and Edward came to pick me up. I thanked God a million times that Edward could not read my thoughts. But I still kept my eyes down the entire time, walking to the car, like I had all day long. I got in the back next to Emmett, put my seat belt on, pulled my knees up to my chest and stared out the window, without saying a word. They all just stared curiously at me.

"Bella? Is there something wrong?" Edward asked me tentatively.

I looked up for a second, but then I remembered all the diagrams, and I started to think about Edward, and putting two and two together, I felt disgusted. I turned my head away again, while cheeks turned red. I moaned as I felt the heat, and put my head on my knees. "Nothing", I mumbled. "Just drive."

I knew that they were all very confused, but Edward started the car.

"Bella, are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Jasper asked. But when I looked up, I could only see him and Alice. Together. _Together. _My eyes widened. How could I be thinking of these things? I let out an angry growl. These vampires must be rubbing off on me. I continued to stare out the window. Edward finally let out an exasperated sigh.

"Bella! Tell us what you are thinking, right now." Edward commanded. I couldn't refuse him, when he used his stern voice.

Thank God again, that they had vampire hearing, because I would not be willing to repeat what I will say.

"I-I-I", I paused.

"Come on Bella." Edward urged.

"I had sex ed today", I said very fast. I turned red again, and hid my eyes on my knees again. Emmett burst out laughing.

"So that's what this is all about?" He said, while still laughing. Edward and Jasper were starting to laugh too now.

"Why are you laughing at me? I was just thoroughly scarred today!"

"Chill down Bella. It's just sex ed. Not hell."

"You're right, it's worse. Do you know how many diagrams, models and pictures I just witnessed today?!" I yelled frantically. "I didn't even know that things like…like…like _that stuff _existed!"

They couldn't stop laughing.

"Do you want to talk about it, Bella?" Jasper asked while trying to suppress a smile.

"NO! Of course I don't want to talk about it! Do you think I want to talk about it! It was hard enough learning these things with a dozen guys in your class and an old MALE teacher! My science was talking about the insides of a vagina! I will never be the same!" I shouted at them.

Because of Edward's fast driving we were already at the house. I jumped out of the car in a huff, and ran to the door. Emmett beat me there.

"Bella. Everything is natural. You don't have to be embarrassed about it." Emmett tried to say seriously, but failed.

"Aargh! Move Emmett!" I pushed past him, which was very hard, and I opened the door. I put my backpack in my room, and headed for the phone in the kitchen. At least my friends could sympathize with me.

The phone rang before I could grab it.

"Bella?" I recognized Tally's voice.

"Yeah, Tally?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"I was just about to call you," I said relieved. "Oh my God, my brothers were laughing at me when I told them about the sex ed. I am so mad at them."

"Get over it Bella," Emmett called from the living room.

"Yeah I know, I told my mom, and she wanted to have the talk again!"

"You are so lucky, that it was your mom to find out, not your brothers. The entire class I just sat in my seat with my cheeks like permanently stained red."

"Me too. We were in the same class right? I saw Ryan looking at you though." She giggled. I giggled too.

"Really? Do you think he likes me?"

"Yes, you were too busy sinking in your seat to notice anything. Ha ha. I saw everyone's faces. They were all so embarrassed. Oh my God, do you think we will have to go through it again tomorrow?"

"No! I walked around all day and I couldn't think about anything else! That picture, you the one with the-"

"I know!" She interrupted me. "Everyone could not look away from that one."

"Is that what it really looks like?" I asked referring to the picture.

"I think so. I mean I don't really know. It looks complicated."

"Definitely. Did you know that there were that many types…?" I didn't have to finish my sentence.

"No! I never even heard of the last one. I mean I heard about the second one, but never knew much about it. It sounds uncomfortable."

"It looks uncomfortable." I laughed.

"You know when he was talking about that…_thing_?" I instantly knew what she was talking about.

"Yes. How does that even work? Like, it looks…like a torture device. And then when Mr. Pollen was talking about that…_situation_. Oh my God, I didn't even know that a guy could do that!" I laughed.

"I know! And then when he…_you know_! It must hurt." She exclaimed.

"It must hurt like hell!" I screamed.

"Ahaha! And at the end, it sounds…exhilarating!"

"Haha! Oh m God, Tally!" I pretended I was shocked. "Actually you're right, it looks…_interesting_!" We were laughing so hard now.

"But that girl in the photo, looks so…developed. Do you look like that?" It was kind of a personal question, but right now, she was my only hope for comfort, so I might as well be honest with her.

"Hold on for second," I said as I walked to a bathroom. "I guess, kind of. I mean I think I'm getting there." **(A/N: I'm not going to specify what they are talking about, but I let it go loose.) **I examined myself in the mirror. "What about you?"

"I think I'm getting there. I don't really know. I don't want to talk about this with my mom so I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable."

"It's okay, it's kind of hard to relate to anyone in my family."

"But your sisters…"

"Are completely perfect", I finished.

"Yeah, I guess that's true." She laughed. "Oh, I have to go now to start on my homework. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye Tally."

I took one last look in the mirror and walked outside to find three snickering boys.

"You weren't listening to my conversation, were you?" My happy mood was starting to fade.

"Of course not, Bella. And may I ask where are you getting?" Emmett asked innocently.

"You are so dead when Mom gets home." I yelled as I head to my room to get changed for swimming. "Jasper, I think I can swim on my own today", I said to him icily.

"'Do you think he really likes me?'" Emmett mocked.

I gave him a death look before slamming my bedroom door. A twelve year old can never get any privacy anymore.

**Hope you enjoyed it!! 333**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**A/N: Haven't written in a while. I got ideas, just not time. But at least I can assure you that these next few chapters are going to be very **_**awkward **_**for Bella. Haha. **

I walked out of Pre-Algebra class, rethinking about what we just learned. It was really hard to concentrate when Ryan, who was sitting right next to me, wouldn't stop looking at. The entire beginning of seventh grade, he wouldn't stop talking to me. He's really nice, but it can get annoying.

"Hey, Bella. What's up?" Ryan said, after caught up to me in the hall. I saw Becky giving me a look that said I-told-you-he-was-obsessed-with-you.

"Nothing much. You?" I asked back.

"I'm good. So what are you doing this weekend?"

"Probably swimming with Jasper. I really wanted to see that new movie that came out. I think I can convince Emmett to go with me. What are you doing?" I asked politely even though I was mildly interested.

"I'm doing nothing. I was wondering if you wanted to do something…with me…like…together." He choked over his words. I hide my laugh by coughing, because that would make him feel even more anxious.

"Ummm…." I hesitated. I knew that my family wouldn't like the idea of me going on a date. But he was really sweet, and I didn't want to hurt him, because he was a good friend. "Sure, but just as friends, okay? I don't really want to get distracted with a boyfriend when I'm focused on water polo training for high school."

"You know that you will make the team. You've been playing since you were eight. That's six years." He responded. He seemed a little desperate for my liking.

"Ryan," I warned. "Just friends." I watched his face fall, and I instantly felt guilty. "For now," I added.

"Thanks, Bell." He smiled, while I tried not to wince at the stupid nickname. "My mom can drive us, and then bring you home. I'll pick you up around seven on Saturday." He said while walking to his class. I just nodded, while wondering how I would break this to my family.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"No", Edward said. Apparently he heard Ryan's thoughts. He said this right when I stepped in the car. Thankfully Alice and Rosalie were there to defend me.

"Why not?" I complained.

"Because you are too young to start dating." Edward replied.

"It's not a date. We are just friends."

"That's not how he looked at it."

"Well, I'm making sure that it's not a date." I said.

"Edward," Alice warned. "You want a normal life for her? Well this is a normal life for a fourteen year old. Any other parent or sibling would not be able to read the boy's mind, and would never know that it's not a date. Plus I think it's cute."

Edward sighed. "It's not cute," I demanded. "It's nothing. It's the same thing as if I went to the movies with Tally, Becky, or Alexandra."

"It's not the same, because it's with a boy; a boy who has testosterone, hormones, and a determined mind." Edward responded.

"Don't you trust me?" I said sweetly, trying to swoon him.

"I trust you, Bella. I really do. It's him that I don't trust."

"He has a name, and it's Ryan. And besides I don't even like Ryan. I'm only going out with him because I feel bad. I don't want to hurt him, he's my friend. Ask Jasper, when I go out on Saturday." Edward looked at me, thoughtfully.

"Bella! Why are you trying to get Edward to say yes? His opinion doesn't matter. He's just your brother. It's mom and dad you have to win over. And they are much easier than Edward." Rosalie interrupted. I realized that she was right. Edward growled, and I knew that he also knew that Rosalie was right. In any other family, it was the parents that made the dating decisions, not the siblings.

When we got home, I went right to Esme, who was in the pool room, cleaning the pool.

"Mom?" I asked her sweetly.

"Yes dear?" She turned her attention to me.

"I was wondering if I could go to a movie Saturday night, with my friend Ryan. We both have been dying to see that new movie, and we decided to go together. His mother will take us." I said casually. I knew that if I just shrugged it off as a friend and a friend going to see an anticipated movie together, she would see past the whole date thingy.

"Is this a date?" She immediately shot down my hopes for obliviousness.

"No. I specifically told him that we would go as just friends." I replied confident.

"I guess. I'm only saying yes, because I trust to not get too caught up in boys so young." She said sternly.

"I promise." I replied. I skipped off toward Edward's room to put it in his face.

"Mom said yes," I said smugly.

"Of course she did, she doesn't know what he was thinking." He said a little distractedly.

Curiosity got the better of me. "What was he thinking?" I asked as I walked into his room.

He smiled. He knew that he got me and that I would beg to know what Ryan was thinking. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Tell me Edward." I said fiercely.

"No, I don't think I'm going to. Because my opinion doesn't matter, right?" He said innocently.

"No, it doesn't. Now give me the facts." I demanded.

"Nah, I don't think I'm going to." He said as he laid down on his couch and put his arms behind his head, and stared at the ceiling, dreamily.

"Tell me!" As I said this, I ran over to the couch, and jumped on top of him and started actually jumping on top of him. I knew that this wouldn't hurt him, but it would knock the breathe out of him.

"Fine," he said as said as he locked his hands on my ankles so I couldn't jump on him anymore. I sat on his chest waiting for story time.

"He thought that you were really pretty, that you had nice thighs and breasts," he made a very disgusted look, "and was thinking of all the ways he could get fresh with you at the movie theater. He was also wondering if you find out if he told everyone that you were his girlfriend. Satisfied?"

I was shocked. I was shocked that a guy would think that of me. I was shocked that _Ryan _would think that of me. He was always so sweet and shy around me. I never would have guessed. I was mostly surprised at the individual comments.

"He thinks I have nice breasts?" I couldn't help looking down when I asked Edward that.

He rolled his eyes. "Bella. Are you kidding me? A guy is thinking profanities of you, and you are just wondering is they are true?"

"Well," I was a little shocked myself that I would think of that first, but I couldn't help but be surprised that someone was noticing my breasts and thought that they were nice. "At least he's not saying that out loud. And it is a compliment. I should be saying thanks, but then he would start to wonder how I would have found out."

Edward just looked at me shocked. "So if _I_ said you had nice breasts would you say thank you?"

"First of all, you would say it out loud, so that would just make it snobby. Second, you are my brother, and that's just ew. Just ew. Ew." With that, I got off of his chest and started to walk out of his room.

When I got to the bathroom, I realized that I did have nice thighs, from the pictures I see of the women on Sports Illustrated that Emmett orders, mine looked similar, only smaller, because I haven't stopped growing yet and so they will probably get longer. I don't really know how breasts are supposed to look, but I guess they look right. I decided this as I got ready for swimming with Jasper.

"I heard about Ryan." He said with a smile.

"Not you too." I whined.

"I heard the excuse you gave him. Seriously though? That was the worst let down I have ever heard. Everyone knows that you will be the on the team. Maybe we should start working on let downs. From what I heard from Edward, you might to use them frequently." He said, while I scowled.

"It's not a date, we are just hanging out as friends." I said through my teeth.

"Sure, whatever you say." He then ended the conversation by making me swim laps.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**(A/N: So I got a lot of reviews asking if/when Bella and Edward are going to get together. So my answer so far is I don't know. I've read a couple stories that have a similar plot to this one and in them, the authors make Edward interfere with Bella's dating. It makes it seem that Bella has no choice but to be with him. So I wanted to test the dating field a little first. It will probably end with Bella and Edward together, but for now, they are oblivious to their feelings of each other. P.S.- characters are owned by Stephenie Meyer)**

Chapter 9

I was swimming laps in the pool when Alice came in frantic.

"Bella!" She cried as she grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the pool; if she was a human, this wouldn't be possible.

"What Alice?" I asked worried. She must have some very important news.

"It's 6:30! You have half an hour to get ready for your date!" Well, not that important.

"First, Alice, this is not a date, and second that is plenty of time." I said as we walked in to the house.

"Whatever."

And so for the next thirty minutes I sat in the bathroom, while Alice held me victim to Sephora's lastest products.

"Bella! Ryan is here." Jasper called from downstairs. He really didn't need to call that loud, Alice could have probably heard him if he just whispered; Ryan must have been close.

"I'm coming", I said in a normal voice.

I walked down the stairs in jeans and a white v-neck shirt with flip flops. I convinced Alice to let me dress myself so that I could prove that s was not a date by wearing jeans.

But hair had no such luck. Alice blow dried it and curled it out. She also applied a little eyeliner and mascara, she didn't have much time.

"Hey Bella", Ryan said. Clad in jeans and a Ramones shirt, Ryan looked very nervous. It could have been due to the fast that Carlisle, Edward, Emmett and Jasper all had their arms crossed and had their most menacing glares displayed. But looking at Ryan right then, terrified, anxious, and probably fearing for his life, actually made me smile. It was hilarious that Ryan, who was tall for his age, five ten, would actually be panicking when he usually had a calm and cool demeanor at school. **(A/N: five ten is actually very tall in my school, when in eighth grade no one was over five seven.)**

"Hi Ryan," I tried to sound preppy to try and lighten the mood a little, but it did nothing.

"Did you meet my family already?" I couldn't help it. I wanted to see him squirm just a little more. I wasn't usually a malicious person but this was too funny. I would have so much fun telling Tally about this tomorrow in gym.

"Um, yeah." He looked awkwardly at the guy direction and then at Rosalie, Esme, and Alice. Rosalie and Alice were enjoying this too, but Esme has a sympathetic look on her face.

"Okay, see you later Bella," Esme nudged me toward the door to try and break the tension. As I was closing the door, I saw all the boys laughing, I looked at each one in the eye, laughing too, and shaking my head.

"Have fun tonight Bella", Emmett said between laughs.

"You guys," I pointed at each one, "are going to hell, for doing that."

"Oh, it was so worth it", Jasper assured me.

I walked out the door to see Ryan standing there, looking eager to get in the car. I knew that he didn't hear any of what I said. He was probably taking deep breathes.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Yep."

We walked to his mom's mini van where she greeted me with a smile. "Hello, Bella. I've heard so much about you."

"All good things, I hope." I said with a smile towards Ryan.

"Of course," she responded.

I sat in the car, and realized how jaded I became to my family's driving. I felt like it would take all day to get to Port Angeles. Finally, though, an hour and a half later, we arrived at the movie theater. His mom left to do some shopping while we walked into the movie theater to get some tickets. As we were walking to the ticket stand, I saw something in my peripheral vision. It was someone walking away, the back of his head looked familiar but I couldn't place it. I just shrugged it off.

"Two tickets for Twilight, please," Ryan said to the woman behind the counter. **(A/N: I couldn't think of a movie that had Romance and Action in it, so I thought, why not Twilight? Oh, the irony.)**

"Actually, one ticket." I turned to Ryan, "I can pay for my own." I said firmly, I can't believe he would even try to pay when I already told him that we would be going as friends, not a date!

We got candy and popcorn for the movie; he didn't even try to pay this time.

During the movie, Ryan kept scooting toward me. I put my hand on the hand rest, but moved it when Ryan tried to put his hand on mine. I tried leaning the other way in my seat, but then my thigh would touch his and then try to intertwine our feet. It was getting seriously annoying. I wiggled through the whole movie. At the sad part, he put his hand on my mid-thigh. I crossed my legs, subtly pushing his hand off of my thigh. Could the message get any clearer?

I heard someone snicker in the back of the movie theater. There might have been a funny part in the movie, I don't know, I wasn't paying attention, but it was a lone snicker. That was suspicious.

We didn't say anything to each other after the movie ended. We would have talked about the movie if we actually knew what it was about. We also would have talked about his failed attempts at getting fresh with me, but I guess we both knew that it was an awkward subject. We just stayed silent.

His mom asked about the movie, to which we replied fine. Another hour and a half later, Ryan's mom pulled into the Cullen drive way. Ryan walked me to the door. If he tried anything, I think I might slap him. I was already in a frustrated mood after the whole distraction thing in the movie theater.

"Good night, Bella." Ryan said as we stopped in front of the door. I saw the window curtain flutter, and I got even madder then.

"'Night, Ryan", I said evenly as I started to turn to head toward the door. He grabbed my hand and turned me so that I faced him. He leaned in a little bit, and closed his eyes halfway. He looked sleepy when he did that, but I knew he wanted a good night kiss. But seriously? How stupid can you get? Did he not remember my family of big, strong men who are very intimidating? And his _mom _was right there too. Ew.

So I leaned away from him and took my hand back. "Umm…I'll see you Monday. At school." With that I slipped into the house and closed the door. I just realized that that night was over. I didn't have to deal with his moves again. I could go back to my room and play my music, and never have to think of this night, or the awkwardness again.

But then a frown grew on my face after I remembered that I would still have to see him and talk to him on Monday. He will also probably tell everyone that we are dating. Great. I leaned against the door to make sure the night was over, even if the stories weren't. I suddenly felt really exhausted as I slid down to the floor, and closed my eyes. I sat like that for about a second before I heard Emmett laughing.

"So Bella, did you have fun tonight?" Emmett asked with a smile. When I opened my eyes I saw Jasper, Edward and Emmett all staring down at me with smiles across their faces. I groaned. This night was not over.

"No, and I know that you guys know that too. Am I right?" I asked them narrowing my eyes at each of them.

"We were just checking in to make sure that you were okay." Edward explained.

"Sure." I closed my eyes again.

"So come on Bella. You have to admit, he was a little pathetic. During the movie?" Jasper said.

I had to smile now, because looking back on the night, it was hilarious. All of those desperate attempts to try to get close to me were stupid. I laughed. "Yeah, it was pathetic. Remember when he put his hand on my thigh?"

"Yeah, and you oh-so-casual crossed your legs." Jasper laughed. "You were so irritated and he was so confused. Nice blow to his ego, Bella."

"Seriously, since when did you become such a heartbreaker?" Edward asked amused.

I looked him the eye. "It was not a date."

"Sure", Emmett said. "Tell that to Edward. If he didn't have Jasper telling him that you found him irritating, he would have broken you two up for public display of affection." Edward turned away thoughtfully.

"Public display of affection? Are you kidding me?" I looked at them aghast.

"Well, yeah, he was practically fondling you in the movie theater!" Emmett said.

"No he wasn't! He was just touching my thigh. Gosh, get over it." Instantly the atmosphere turned from light and playing to serious.

"And he shouldn't have been touching you at all." Edward said.

"Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief. "So what would have happened it I did kiss him?"

"We probably would have broken his jaw," Jasper said calmly.

"This is ridiculous! How am I going to keep a boyfriend, if we don't even kiss?"

"First of all, you don't need a boyfriend. Second, when you do get a boyfriend, which, might I add, will be a long time from now, you don't need to kiss; that can wait for the twenties. And third, if doesn't stay with you because you don't kiss, then he's not worth it anyway." Emmett explained.

"You can be like Edward. Over a hundred years old and still is a virgin," Jasper joked. He was probably trying to get me to calm down.

"Whatever, I'm going to bed." I called as I headed toward my room. I briefly wondered how I would pull off kissing my future boyfriend _before _I'm twenty.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Bella! Do you have a date for the dance yet?" Alexandra asked me in Algebra. I was so bored. Edward already taught me all this stuff last summer. I was bored.

Alexandra was a really good. Not best friend; I don't have a best friend, I have so many friends and people that I talk to, I couldn't place one friend as closer to me than another. Her flaming orange hair and fair skin gave her a porcelain doll look. Her petite frame and soft voice all added to the doll effect.

"No," I replied. "No's asked me yet."

"Tanner asked me last night. On AIM. Not very romantic, but he's so shy, he probably couldn't work up the confidence to ask me himself."

"Lucky you, Tanner is really nice."

"I wonder who will ask you."

"If they even do. I think all the guys look at me as only a friend. I mean they talk to me, but they never ask me out, or call me." I said with a frown.

"That's because of your intimidating brothers. I hear all the guys talking about them. Ryan told them how big and strong they were when he came to pick you up from your date with him."

"It wasn't a date!" I had to say this to at least fifteen people. But I gave Ryan a really good talking to about spreading rumors. I guess we aren't going to be friends anymore, because he was pretty upset. He thought I was giving him mixed messages. He is really stupid.

"Oh right, sorry." She looked sincere. "But I heard that Scott was going to ask you to go with him." She said excitedly.

"No way! I have totally had a crush on him this entire year."

"I know! That's why I told him that he should totally go for it. I said that I heard you mention his name as someone you were interested in and he looked totally convinced."

It was true; I do have a huge crush on him. But who wouldn't? He had shaggy blond hair, and an easy smile. We talked a couple times in gym. He was a water polo player too. And that also meant that he was built. As built as you could probably be for a fourteen year old. He had hazel eyes that sparkled in the sun, and was the heartache of every teenage girl in the middle school. It was not only his looks that attracted me to him. It was his attitude. He acted like he didn't know what affect he had on girls. He wasn't snobbish, and actually liked to read. I would see him at lunch time in the court yard sitting with a book. Not the Aeneid like some overachiever, even though I hear he has average grades, but crime dramas like John Grisham. It really did impress me that he could get away from his friends and be alone, to read.

At lunch I sat in the cafeteria with my friends. I took a bite of my pizza and then looked up to see Scott headed for my table.

"Oh my God, Bella!" Becky squealed. "Scott is totally headed toward our table, and he's looking at you! Oh my God, he is smokin'!"

"Does my hair look okay? Any food stuck in my teeth?" I asked nervously. Scott was only ten feet away.

"You look beautiful." Tally answered.

"Thanks" I mouthed to her, because Scott was now at our table.

"Hey Bella," he said awkwardly.

"Hey Scott," I hoped I didn't sound too eager.

"Can I talk to you outside?"

"Sure." I smiled. I couldn't believe this was happening. When he turned around to lead me out of the cafeteria, I turned around to smile at Becky, Tally, Alexandra, and Camille. They gave me a thumbs up with a supporting smile. They all already had dates.

"So do you have a date to the dance this Friday yet?" He asked while staring at the ground.

"No, no one has asked me yet." I said slowly.

"Oh, well, I don't know why not. You're really cute." He said, looking up to meet my eyes.

"Uh…thanks." I didn't want to sound bitchy, and say something like brag.

"So, I was, uh, wondering, um, if you want to, you know, go with me, to the, uh, dance?" he put his hands in his jeans, and he trying to stay articulate.

"Sure, I would love to go with you to the dance." I said with a smile. I didn't like to see him squirm, unlike Ryan, I actually liked Scott and I wanted to be comfortable with me.

"Okay, thanks. Um, I can get my dad to drive us." He said. He looked immensely relieved.

Remembering the escapade with Ryan and my brothers, I felt nervous now. I didn't want them to scare Scott, the way they scared Ryan. "Um, maybe we should meet at the dance. I don't know if you've heard, but my brothers can be pretty intimidating."

"I don't mind." He said grinning. "I've actually been wanting to meet them. I know your brother, Jasper, is your water polo coach. We probably have some stuff in common. And plus, they are only protective of you, because you probably get strange guys asking you out all the time." He was too good to be true.

"Something like that."

"Okay, so I'll see you in gym." He said. So he remembered that we talked in gym.

I walked back to my table with a huge smile plastered on my face. I think the whole cafeteria was staring at me. While I was out, Camille probably told everyone what was happening. So I sat back down in my seat and didn't say anything through my smile.

"Oh my God, Bella! Just tell us!" Camille cried. The whole cafeteria had definitely heard.

"He asked me to be his date for the dance." I said evenly.

"And? What did you say?!" Camille now shouted. Everyone kept staring at me.

"I said yes, of course!" I laughed. Finally getting it out felt so good.

"Oh I have the best idea!" Tally said. "We should all get ready for the dance together."

"That's a great idea! We can do it at my house. My sister, Alice, has tons of makeup and hair products." I offered.

We all agreed that they would come home with me on Friday, we would swim for a little bit, then take showers, do our hair and make up and then they would go home to change and get picked up by their dates. After the dance they would come back to my house for a sleepover. The dance is more of an end-of-the-school-year party. I couldn't believe that I would be graduating and going into high school. I was so ready to start playing water polo on a team. Playing against my family was fun, but they held back, not wanting to hurt me. And swimming once in a while with the community water polo practice was almost the same. They weren't that good.

When I got home and told my family the plan, they were so happy. This was the first time I actually had any friends over. Let alone a sleepover.

"Oh I need to get some ice cream and pizza for Friday night. Do sundaes sound good, Bella?" Esme asked as she started to make a list.

"Sounds perfect," I answered.

"Maybe I should get some extra mattresses, pillows and blankets for the girls to sleep on. We move all of the furniture out of the living room so you girls could watch TV in bed." She templated.

"So Bella", Edward started, "who is your date to the dance?"

"Oh I can't believe I forgot to tell you!" I almost started jumping. I had given up on keeping my crushes a secret a long time ago, knowing it was a lost cause to a secret in this house. "Remember that guy that I was telling you about?!"

"Which one?" Emmett rolled his eyes.

"Scott! Oh my God! So I was talking to Alexandra in Algebra today," I started.

"While still paying attention, I hope," Carlisle added.

"Of course. Anyway, so I was talking with Alexandra about her date, Tanner, and she asked if anyone asked me yet, and I was like no. Then she said that she heard Scott talking about asking me!"

"Wait, which one is Scott?" Jasper asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Scott is the blond, with all the muscles. He's the one that plays water polo. I told you about him. He is so hot! Oh my God!"

"And it starts," mumbled Emmett.

"Anyway, back to the story, so Alexandra told me that she told him that I was interested in him. Which I was, of course. So she told him that he should totally ask me to go to the dance with him. And he was like yeah." I started actually squealing now. "So then at lunch, Scott totally comes up to my table and was like, 'hey, Bella,'" I tried to do my best guy voice.

"Like totally," Emmett mocked me. I scowled, but got back into my mood.

"And I was like 'hey, Scott', but I tried to sound totally cool, but it sounds like squeak, I was so embarrassed. Haha. So then he was like, 'can I talk to you outside?' and I was like 'sure'."

"Oh my God, does this story, like, have an actual purpose?" Emmett asked trying to sound like me.

"I'm getting to the best part! So then he asked me if I had a date to the dance, and he was so nervous, it was so cute." All the guys rolled their eyes, the girls just awed. "So I said, no, no one has asked me yet. And he said 'I don't know why not, you're really cute'." I was smiling so hard, as I relived the memory, I started blushing. I couldn't believe that his words had affected me so much.

"Oh, how cute!" Alice cooed.

Rosalie just hugged me and said, "you're gonna be a heartbreaker!"

"Wait! I'm not done yet! So I said thanks, and then he asked me if wanted to go to the dance with him. And he was stuttering and had his hands in his pockets, and was just so cute! So I, of course, said yes. He said his dad would drive us, so that means he's probably going to have to meet you guys. But when I told him this, he was totally cool with it. I mean, he heard about you guys." I looked to the boys. "Because of you four, all the boys in school are scared as hell to ask me out. Thank you." I said sarcastically.

"Your welcome." Edward replied with a smile.

"Our job is done." Emmett said.

"Mission successful." Jasper added.

"It's really for the best." Carlisle said.

"But it's not going to stop Scott," I singsonged.

"Oh something will," Edward murmured. Emmett high fived him.

"Don't you dare even think about it," I looked Emmett, Jasper, and Edward in the eyes. "I really like Scott, and if you three screw it up, I will never talk to you guys again." I said with as much fierceness I had.

"Gosh, geez, Bella. We were just kidding. Chill out." Emmett said.

"Alice…" I trailed off suggestively.

"Yay! Shopping!" She said as she went to her room to grab her purse.

"Wait a minute. How much homework do you have, Bella?" He asked me like a real father.

"Not much, only a little algebra, which I already know because Edward already taught me everything last summer. The rest I finished in study hall; there was no gym today." I said gratefully. Even though I was very graceful in the water, I was not so lucky on the land.

"Okay, then. Don't be out too late. Have fun." Carlisle said as he walked to his study.

"Thanks, Dad. See you later."

I couldn't believe that I was actually looking forward to shopping, so that I could find a dress perfect for Scott.

It was going to be the best night of my life.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Oh my God, I thought. Could they pick us up in any more conspicuous cars? Alice brought her yellow Porsche Turbo 911, and Rosalie brought her BMW M3 convertible. Perfect. Now everyone will be staring at us.

"Bella? Are those your cars?" Eileen asked me. She was coming too. She usually hangs out with us, but until recently she didn't have a date. She's usually very quiet.

"Yeah, well, my sisters'."

Adam came up to me and whistled. "Nice rides." I didn't even bother to tell him about Edward's car if he thought these were nice cars. Adam was Camille's date.

"Hey, hot stuff," Camille came to stand next to Adam. "Whoa, Bella. Are those our rides?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry. I know it's flashy but I totally told them to bring the Volvo," I said.

"No, it's fabulous. I totally can't wait to ride in the BMW with the top down," Alexandra cried.

"Bella! Are you coming?" Rosalie asked as she and Alice came up to me and my friends. The entire school was now watching two strikingly beautiful girls come up to us with uber cool cars.

"Bella? Do you know her?" Scott asked me.

"Yeah, of course. This is Rosalie and Alice, my sisters." I introduced them.

"Oh, is this Scott?" Alice asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm Scott."

"Oh, we have heard so much about you," Rosalie said with a smile. I shot her a furious glance. "Okay let's get going, we already got the pool warm, and we want to keep it warm."

"Yay! Swimming!" Becky exclaimed.

"Okay who's in my car?" Alice asked.

"I'll go in your car," I said.

"Me too," Becky and Camille said.

"So Alexandra, Eileen, and Tally will go with me," Rosalie said.

Everyone us get into the expensive cars, and then heard the loud radio that I know Alice turned up for this particular reason.

"I'll see you later, Scott," I called out to him. He smiled and waved good bye.

"Bella, he is so cute," Alice said over the loud music.

"I told you he was." I laughed. My favorite song came on, and I turned it up louder. We all sang along, probably looking stupid because exaggerated every other word.

"We're home," Alice said.

"You live here?" Camille asked me. I forgot that I never invited anyone over. The house probably looked really big to them, especially since we added on the pool house. It probably looked close to a mansion now, with its seven bedrooms, study, library, kitchen, gym, living room, dining room, and basement. And then add on the many glass windows that take up most walls, the half an Olympic sized pool, and eight car garage.

"Yeah, it looks bigger on the outside though," trying to make it sound smaller, but really there was no way.

"Wow, is it like a mansion?" Eileen asked.

"No, just a regular house," I said.

"You mean a house on steroids," Tally added.

"Okay, whatever. Let's just go swimming," I said as I opened the door. They all gasped at the big window that lit up the crystal chandelier on the ceiling, the grand staircase and intricately designed rug, which Esme got from Peru.

Just then Esme and Carlisle came through the door that led to the kitchen.

"Hello, girls. I'm Esme, and this is Carlisle. Welcome to our home," Esme said sweetly. She sounded like a natural.

"Hi, mom. This is Alexandra, Tally, Becky, Camille, and Eileen." I pointed to each of them. They each mumbled their hellos. "We will just go to my room to get ready for swimming." I led them up the staircase.

"Wow, your mom is really pretty, Bella." Becky said.

"And your dad is hot," Tally added.

"Um, thanks," I said awkwardly. I knew my family probably heard that. I wonder what they will say when they meet my brothers.

"Okay, here's my room, do you all have bathing suits? Because I have extra." I asked opening the door to my room. I turned on the music to try and muffle our conversations a little.

"I think we all brought them. I love your bed, it's so big," Becky said.

"Yeah I love it too. We will sleep downstairs in the living room, because it had a bigger TV and more space. My mom already set everything up for tonight," I told them.

"Sweet," Camille said.

We all changed into our bikinis and started down the stairs to the indoor pool. On our way down, we saw Edward.

"Hey girls," Edward said politely. All of their mouths dropped.

"Um, guys, this is Edward, one of my brothers. Edward, this is Alexandra, Camille, Tally, Becky, and Eileen." I pointed to each one again. They all squeaked a hello. I can't even imagine what Edward was hearing in their thoughts.

"Are you girls going to swim?" Edward asked. He was probably smiling about something one of my friends thought.

"Yeah, you want to come?" I said politely, but I really didn't want him to come, so I shook my head very slightly so that he would know that I don't want him to come.

"No, I'm going to play video games with Emmett and Jasper. Maybe next time," he said and walked up the stairs, human speed.

"Oh my God, I think I just had a heart attack," Alexandra exclaimed as fanned herself.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I led them pass all the rooms to the pool house.

"Your brother! He is like the incarnate of hotness!" Alexandra said. They all agreed with her.

"Oh," was all I said.

"Does he have a girlfriend?" Tally asked.

"How old is he?" Camille asked.

"Does he like younger girls?" Becky asked.

"Okay, stop. He's my brother!" I exclaimed.

"So?" Eileen said.

I sighed. "He doesn't have a girlfriend, he's seventeen, and I don't think he likes fourteen year olds." I said.

Edward, Emmett, and Jasper were probably listening to us right now, and laughing at me. They will tease Edward about it all the time now.

"Seventeen," Alexandra sighed.

"Okay, enough." I said once we got to the pool. I turned on the music to Shake It by Metro Station. We all sang as we jumped into the pool.

We played chicken, marco polo, and did races. I always won. Now we were just chilling out.

"We should do this more often. You know? Like have a tradition," Alexandra suggested.

"That would be awesome," we all agreed. We could switch houses. Like a Cholo came on through the stereo. We all started singing, and dancing the lean it dance.

"Tonight is going to awesome," I said excitedly.

"Hell yeah. We are totally going to have the hottest there," Alexandra said.

"Yeah, especially, since Bella bagged Scott," Becky said.

"I still can't believe that actually happened. He is so hot," I told them.

"Of course it happened, you are like the prettiest girl in school, and he is like the hottest guy, it was destiny," Camille said.

"I guess, but we do have a lot in common. Like is totally not freaked out about my brothers," I told them.

"Like Ryan you mean?" Tally said with a laugh. "He told everyone that they were about to beat him up."

"Yeah, I know. But seriously he coming on to me all night," I cried. "He would put his hand on mine, I would move away and he would try again."

"Determined little boy," Camille laughed.

"Yeah, and he put his hand on my thigh! I told him that we would be going as friends," I said.

"He's crazy about you, you know. He told everyone that you two were going out. That's why Scott didn't ask you sooner," Alexandra told me.

"He also asked me out, but I told him no. I knew he would try something," Tally said. I heard a familiar jingle and ran to my phone.

"Oh my God, Scott just texted me!" I cried and showed them my phone.

"What does it say?" Becky asked. I could totally see Emmett rolled his eyes right now.

"It says, 'Can't wait to see you tonight," I read.

"Awwww…that's just so cute," Eileen said.

"I know. I wish my date would text me that," Camille pouted.

"Oh, come on, Camille. We all know that Adam is all over you, all day at school," Tally pointed out.

"Yeah, I think we have enough proof that he is into you," I remarked.

"Actually, he asked me to be his girlfriend today before school," Camille said.

"You bitch! Why didn't you tell us this earlier? I can't believe you didn't even tell us!" I exclaimed, jokingly.

"Ditto!" Alexandra said.

"Because we wanted to tell everyone at the dance, and the secretive thing is so hot." She laughed. "And you know if I told you guys, you would have had it spread by first period, Tally," she point out.

"Sorry, but this is good stuff, and people have a right to know!" Tally defended herself.

"Exactly. But whatever, you can tell everyone tonight," she said.

"Let's go get something to drink and eat," I offered.

We headed to the kitchen, where Alice was working on smoothies. "I thought you girls might want something to drink."

We got the smoothies and the chopped fruit from Alice and walked to my room, on the way I saw Emmett, Jasper and Edward playing games in the living room. I thought I might as well get the introductions done with.

"Emmett, Jasper, these are my friends," I introduced them.

"Hey girls," Emmett smiled, I knew it. He did listen to everything we said.

"Uh, hi," Tally said hesitantly. Even though Tally has a big personality, she still had a tiny body. Natural instinct probably took over, and told her to be afraid. With Emmett's large muscles, and big, shiny teeth, I think all of the girls were a little bit uneasy.

"Nice Emmett, way to freak them out," Jasper hissed.

Emmett stood up, and all of the girls subconsciously leaned back. He came over to each girl and gave them a hug. When he hugged me, I whispered, "What are you doing?"

"Just watch," he said, Jasper snickered. Edward outright laughed.

"Let's go to my room. They are being annoying," I suggested.

"Bella, how do you live?" Becky asked me.

"What?" I replied, confused.

"How do you live in a house with four freaking hot guys?" Becky asked.

"I would have died a long time ago," Eileen added.

"I guess I just didn't notice them that much growing up," I said truthfully.

"Emmett smelled so good," Camille said dreamily. Oh no, the guys were listening to this.

"But he can be really irritating some times. Like he would take my bed in the middle of the night and put it outside in the forest," I tried to make them think he was more annoying than handsome.

"So what? He's so tall and strong," Eileen said.

"But he really uses his strength for the wrong reasons," I tried again. No success.

"He has such a nice smile, and perfect white teeth," Tally said.

I was getting angry now. "I'll meet you guys at my room. I just forgot something at the pool." I slipped out and headed to the boy's room.

"Okay, that was not funny," I said sternly.

"Oh, come on, Bella. We were just having some fun," Emmett cried.

"Jasper, what did you do to them?"

"They were terrified of Emmett, so I just made them a little relaxed. All the lust, that's them, I swear." Jasper raised his hand. Edward laughed.

"If only you could have heard what they were thinking about him, Bella. I'm serious. It was hilarious." He was laughing again.

"What were they thinking?"

"Well, one had a pretty detailed fantasy with chocolate syrup –," he started.

"Never mind, I don't want to know," I interrupted.

I left their room, to go into my room.

"So, like do think we should kiss tonight?" Camille asked us.

"What did I miss?" I asked them.

"Camille is thinking of kissing Adam tonight," Becky informed me.

"Oh, well, are you going to?" I asked.

"I don't know. Should I?"

"Totally," I responded.

"I mean we have come close but we keep getting interrupted. We give each other a peck once in a while, but I mean kiss, like a real kiss." She looked grave.

"I think you should go for it. That way you can come back over here for the sleepover and tell every detail! And plus this is the perfect night for it, I mean technically you two are together," I told her.

"Okay, yeah, you should totally kiss Scott," Tally told me.

"I don't know. I mean I thought about it, but I don't want to rush into things," I told them.

"But you two are like perfect for each other," Becky said.

"I don't know, maybe. I mean I won't mind it, but I don't if he really even likes me that way," I confessed.

"Of course he does," Eileen said.

"Seriously, he is warm for your form," Tally said.

We all started laughing. "I can't believe you said that." I said between laughs.

"Girls, we need to start getting you ready," Alice said as she barged in my room. I was actually excited.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**(A/N: Thanks everyone for the tons of comments, I'm really happy that I don't get any critiques, so that means that the story is pretty good so far and that I will write on. Anyway, the movie issue: it's a three way tie between Juno, Mean Girls, and John Tucker Must Die. I will decide before I write the next chapter. So many people suggested these movies that I really can't go back and try to find all the names. But a huge thanks to you guys, you know who you are. I would have rather the girls watch something more 'dramatic' like in a rated R movie, but I really don't see how the Cullens would let her. Maybe the girls' next sleepover, when they are a little bit older.)**

I looked at myself in the mirror and didn't even recognize the trendy, sophisticated girl looking back at me. She belonged in a magazine, no doubt. I was wearing a dark blue BCBG halter dress that tied at the small of my back and showed the rest of my back. It fell to about ten inches above my knee. Alice paired the dress with khaki four inch peep toe booties, which were so comfortable that I didn't even notice how high they were. And then Alice dragged me to her jewelry box in her room. She sifted through tons and tons of diamond, gold, jade, and silver before finding the perfect selections.

Alice placed two earrings in my hand. I looked at them and guessed that they were diamond studs encircled with platinum. As I put them in, Alice clasped a necklace around my neck. I looked at it in the mirror.

"White gold bar pendent, with a diamond at the top," she informed me. Going down, the Roman numerals read 3, 6, 9, and 12. I loved it.

"Thank you Alice," I said to her. My hair, curled and fluffed to perfection and my makeup, done with precision and care and my outfit, all looked perfect. Perfect for Scott.

**(A/N: You can check out her entire outfit by going to these links:**

**dress: **

/product/index.jsp?productId3138581&cp2769162.2840697&page4&parentPagefamily

**shoes:**

/item.aspx?id46036

**necklace:**

/Shopping/Item.aspx?sku22864807&mcat148204&cid287465&searchparamss+5-p+1-c+287465-r+101323341-x+-n+6-ri+-ni+0-t

**earrings:**

/Shopping/Item.aspx?skuGRP00117&mcat148204&cid287464&searchparamss+5-p+5-c+287464-r+101323351-x+-n+6-ri+-ni+0-t **)**

Alice was perfecting my make up when the door bell rang. Alice had to hold me down so that I wouldn't go downstairs to meet him.

"The boys want to meet him first," Alice said apologetically. I told myself to cool down, that Scott will be fine. The boys will be nice. I asked them to. Alice finally let me walk down the stairs five minutes later. I smiled at Scott who was wearing dark wash jeans, and a black button down shirt. He looked unbelievably hot. He was also laughing with Jasper, and when I came downstairs, he smiled broadly at me.

"You look beautiful," he said nervously. Haha. I make him nervous but my brothers don't.

"Thanks, you look good too," I smiled at him. "You met everyone?"

"Everyone except Alice," he said. "Hi, Alice."

"Hello," Alice said excitedly.

"We can go now," I told him. I looked at my brothers, daring them to protest, and thankfully they didn't.

We walked to his dad's parked car. "What did you guys talk about?" I asked him curiously.

"Just casual stuff, and how good the Hungarian men's water polo team is." I laughed; he knew Jasper would talk about that.

"Good one," I complimented him.

"Thanks, but your brothers really aren't that bad, Ryan's just a pussy," I laughed, agreeing.

"Really? You're not like terrified for your life when you meet them?" I asked him.

"Well, Emmett is kinda big but whatever. He's funny." He told me.

"You are amazing," I leaned over to give him a kiss on his cheek.

He blushed and mumbled thanks, while still smiling. Oh, this was going to be a fun night.

"Hello Bella! You look lovely." Scott's dad said.

"Thank you, Mr. Lidker," I told him politely, but actually I just didn't know his first name.

"Call me Will, please," he told her.

"Okay Will."

A few minutes later, we arrived at the school. "Okay kids, here you go. Bella, I hope I see you again, and Scott, call me when you want to be picked up."

"Okay, dad, bye," Scott called to him.

"Bye, thanks, Will," I said.

When we walked through the door our hands entwined and smiles broad on our faces, a million people came up to us.

"Bella! I absolutely love your dress!"

"You look fucking awesome!"

"I would kill for your shoes where did you get them?"

"Your earrings are adorable."

"Your hair is so shiny."

I said a general thanks to everyone and then walked over to my friends.

"Hey Bella, Scott," Alexandra greeted us. "I love your dress."

"Thanks, Alice got it for me," I smiled. She was wearing a black wrap around dress, with white ballet flats. "I love your dress too."

After we greeted everyone, Scott and I headed to the dance floor. We started grinding just like every other couple on the dance floor. We danced for hours, but it felt like minutes. We finally broke apart, despite my being reluctant for Scott's hands to leave my waist. It had felt so nice to be pressed against him. We got some soda and sat outside to cool down.

"That was a lot of fun," Scott said.

"Yeah it was. Thanks for asking me to the dance, I'm having the best time," I told him sincerely, while squeezing his hand.

"Thanks for saying yes," he said, squeezing my hand back. He brushed his hair away from his face and started to lean in.

This is it! I thought. I'm going to kiss him! I leaned in too, and lowered my eyelids as our lips touched. His lips were soft, gentle. He pushed against mine a little bit and instinctively opened my lips. His wet tongue entered and he deepened the kiss. Our tongues played for a little before we had to take a break for air. We looked each other in the eye, and then went back to kissing. It was the most exhilarating thing I have ever done.

We made out for about ten minutes when I felt my cell phone vibrate.

"I'm so sorry, but I have to take this," I told him apologetically.

"No problem," he had a wide smile on his face.

"Hello?" I said into the phone.

"Hey, Bella. Do you need to be picked up yet?" Jasper asked.

"Um, sure. Almost everyone is gone anyway." It was true there were only my girls and their dates and a few other people still inside.

"Okay, we'll be there in ten minutes," he told me. I said good bye and turned to Scott.

"I have ten minutes," I told him. I smiled and put a hand behind his neck to bring his face to mine. He kissed for a few more minutes before he broke away.

"You probably should get the girls ready," Scott told me.

"Oh yeah," I totally forgot about being picked up.

I gave him another kiss and we walked into the dance room again. I got all the girls together and we headed outside to wait for whoever was picking us up. Before I got outside Scott pulled me back.

"Best first kiss ever," Scott said into my ear.

"Ditto," I told him.

"I'll call you later," he told me.

"Call me tonight," I corrected. Right now my confidence level is very high.

"I guess that means I have to," he said. "So are you, uh, like my girlfriend now?"

"I guess so," I told him. I heard my ride, so I gave him a quick peck before running outside. I took off my heels, and felt free. Not that my heels were hurting or anything, but I just felt like running barefoot. Edward was waiting by one car and Jasper by another. I chose Edward because I didn't want Jasper to know what I was feeling. I got into the front seat with a content smile on my face. I could see Scott outside and I waved to him. He waved back.

"Ready?" Edward asked. He looked at me curiously. Thank God he can't read my mind.

"Yep," I squeaked.

I turned on the radio and What You Got by Akon **(a/n: I picked a random song.) **We all started singing. I was smiling the whole time.

"How much sugar have you had tonight?" Edward asked me as I singed the song, very loudly.

"Hardly any. I am so hungry. Are you guys hungry?" I turned around to ask Eileen, Alexandra and Celine.

"Yeah, we're starving," they confirmed.

"When we get home, I'll ask Esme if we can order a pizza," I told them. They agreed on just plain cheese.

When we all got home, there was a stack of pizzas on the table. Alice, I thought.

"Thanks, Alice," I said. I knew she heard me.

"Bella's been smiling the whole time. Do think she's drunk?" I heard Edward ask Jasper.

"She just really happy, not intoxicated," Jasper told Edward.

"I can you hear you guys, and I'm not drunk. This is the best night of my life," my eyes were probably glazing over just thinking about Scott. "Scott kissed me." I smiled sheepishly.

Edward and Jasper rolled their eyes. The girls squealed and totally forgot about the pizza and started shooting questions at me.

"How was it?"

"Did he use his tongue?"

"What did you do?"

"Do you just kiss, or actually make out?"

"Where did he put his hands?"

"What did he taste like?"

"So are guys like together now?"

"Okay hold up! Okay first question," I started. Edward and Jasper walked out of the room, even though I knew that they could still hear what I'm saying. "It was fabulous. Oh. My. God. It was wonderful. He was wonderful. Yeah we used tongue. Like it was a little awkward at first, but it got much better." I giggled after I said that. They were all staring intently at me. "I think we made out. I mean how long do you have to kiss for, to be considered making out?"

"I guess like over thirty seconds." Becky said.

"So then yeah, we made out. Twice. I got a phone call, and then we started again. One hand held my hand, and the other one was just on my shoulder. I don't think there was much of a taste, since we both didn't have anything to eat the entire dance." Saying that, I remembered my hunger and took a bite of my pizza. "And yeah, I'm his girlfriend, he's my boyfriend. We kinda made it official."  
"So all in all, how the kissing?" Tally asked me.

I laughed, because her question was so direct. "Wow, you're blunt. It was exhilarating. You know, like you wanna dance, exhilarating. Like jump up and down, and scream." I just then thought of an idea. "Come with me." I told them.

"Where are we going?" Asked Eileen, as I led them out of the back door, and outside. I headed toward the trampoline.

"This is what I feel like doing." I climbed up the ladder and started jumping on the trampoline. I laughed at their expressions probably second guessing my sanity. But soon they all started jumping with me. We laughed and kept jumping until we were exhausted and fell down. I was thinking about the Scott the entire time.

**(A/N: The sleepover is not done! I just needed a break; otherwise this would be a very long chapter. More fun to come. )**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 16

Chapter 13

We went back to my room to get changed into our pajamas, after we got exhausted on the trampoline. We went to the kitchen to make sundaes. On the counter Esme set out all the ingredients.

"I still can't believe you are going out with Scott," Tally said.

"I know, it's so surreal. It seems like its been hours since that happened." I told them.

"It actually has been hours. The dance ended at nine, it's eleven now," Eileen said.

"Whatever," I told her, jokingly. I sprayed some chocolate syrup on my arm and started to lick it off.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Becky asked me.

"I'm licking chocolate syrup off of my arm," I told her, and then I sprayed some chocolate syrup on her arm.

"I can't believe you just did that!" she exclaimed.

"You better believe it," I told her. She got some whipped cream and sprayed it on my face.

"Bitch!" I screamed.

"What are you two up to now?" Alexandra asked. I sprayed her with chocolate syrup.

"Oh no, you did-int!" She exclaimed.

She picked up the chocolate and poured some in hair. I screamed. I wiped the chocolate off my hair and spread it all over Camille's shirt. She then hugged Eileen. Eileen poured chocolate on Tally's face. In only a few minutes we were all covered in chocolate syrup with whipped cream in a few places.

"Oh no, girls. What have you done?" Esme asked us as she entered the kitchen.

"It was an accident?" I smiled weakly. She rolled her eyes.

"Go upstairs and clean yourselves up while I mop the floor." We all started to go upstairs but because we had chocolate syrup all over our feet, walking on wooden floors was difficult. We had to hold onto the banisters so as to not trip. But as I put my floor on the next stair, I lost my grip and slipped. Since I was first and we were all in a line, holing onto the banister, we all went down like dominos. We all started screaming as we down, but that turned into laughter. Emmett, Jasper, and Edward all came out of their room to see what had happened.

"Bella? What are you covered in?" Jasper asked me.

"Chocolate syrup," I said as I licked my arm.

"And you slipped and fell down?" Edward asked me, as he looked at the piled of us girls on the floor.

"Yep," I said.

I started to get up, but slipped on the floor, and landed on my ass. Everyone started laughing at me. "Oww," I whined.

We finally made it upstairs to the large shower where all six of us could fit. We jumped into the shower, clothes and all. But during the shower we stripped down to our bras and underwear. When we finally got out we were freezing. We wrapped ourselves in blankets and headed to my room, to change into clean pajamas.

Before we changed into pajamas, we started to dance around in our wet bras and underwear to Sean Paul and Kanye West. We all laughed at Tally's explicit dance on top of my bed. But I couldn't help joining her, and sharing all the cheers and laughs.

They all had to borrow some of my pajamas, because theirs were currently soaking wet. After we changed we headed downstairs to watch the movie.

In the living room, there were three mattresses set up on the floor, complete with sheets, comforters, and pillows right in front of a huge flat screen TV. But on the table to the sides of mattresses, were six perfected sculptured sundaes, complete with chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, whipped cream, nuts, and three cherries.

"Thanks, Mom," I called to the upstairs.

I looked to the stack of DVDs that we were suppose to choose from. The list consisted of John Tucker Must Die, Jumper, and Mean Girls. "Hey guys? Which movie do you want to watch?" I asked them.

"I want to see John Tucker Must Die. It's so funny!" Tally said.

"No way, we are totally seeing Mean Girls," Camille said.

"But Hayden Christensen is so hot in Jumper," Alexandra cried.

"Okay, it's settled then, we will just watch all three," I said. It was going to be a long night. It was already twelve, and we were going to watch three movies.

We started to get settled on the mattress, and I put the DVD in the DVD player. But I paused when I heard a familiar sound. I ran to my purse on the table and looked at the color i.d.

"Oh my God, it's Scott!" I screamed. "What should I do?" I asked nervously.

"Well, first you have to pick up," Alexandra said.

"Okay," I said. I pressed the green button on my iPhone, and collected myself but I said a smooth, "hello?"

"Hey Bella, it's Scott." I smiled so wide.

"Hey, you called," I said. I tried to make my voice as even as possible but that was a growing difficulty.

"Yeah, I said I would. Anyway, what are you doing?"

"Tally, Becky, Camille, Alexandra, and Eileen are over for a sleepover. We are about to watch a movie."

"Nice, which movie?"

"Um, John Tucker Must Die, Jumper, and Mean Girls."

"Good selection."

"Thanks. We were all just covered in chocolate a few minutes ago. It was sundae making gone wrong."

"Sounds like fun. We should do that sometime."

"Totally."

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing, do you want to do something together tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll call you tomorrow."

"Cool. I have to go now. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye, Bella."

"Bye, Scott."

I screamed. "I have a date tomorrow!" They all screamed too. I took a deep breathe. I could practically see the guys' eyes roll to the ceiling. "Okay, back to the movie. John Tucker Must Die."

The movie started, and so did the commentary.

"Oh my God, John Tucker is so hot." Becky said.

"No way, his brother is so much hotter," Camille disagreed.

"No, I have to agree with Becky, John Tucker is the shit," I said. We laughed at different parts, especially the one with the thong, and when she said she would call the cops on a stalker when it was really him.

At around two, I changed the movie to Jumper.

We all dropped our jaws when Hayden Christensen appeared.

"Okay, he is my future husband," I announce.

"No way, you have Scott. I deserve Hayden," Camille said.

"Hayden is such a sexy name," Tally swooned.

"Oh my God, his muscles," Becky said.

"And he's tall and handsome and beautiful," Eileen.

"I will marry him and make beautiful cheerleader children," I said.

"His eyes," Alexandra said. We all stared at the TV without blinking.

"Oh, and when he lays down, his shirt lifts and his beautiful happy trail shows," Tally said.

"Happy trail?" Becky asked.

"Yeah, you know the trail of hair on a guy's stomach," Tally stood up and lifted her shirt and traced a line down her stomach to show an invisible happy trail. "It leads down and down and down…" she trailed off suggestively.

"Down to his penis?" Becky asked bluntly.

"Exactly," I said and we all started laughing.

At the part of Hayden Christensen having sex with his girlfriend, we all burned with envy.

"She so does not deserve him," Alexandra said.

"I second that," Eileen agreed.

"Why does she have to wear those stupid boots?" Camille asked.

"I know! Does she think she looks sexy in them or something?" Tally asked.

"She is pretty though, but I still think I would be a better girlfriend to Hayden Christensen than her," I stated.

"Don't even go there, Bella. We all know that Hayden would totally be with me," Alexandra replied jokingly.

"Hello? He obviously likes brunettes," Camille said pointing to her brown hair, and then to Alexandra's blonde hair.

The movie went on, until we changed it to Mean Girls.

"Oh my God, Regina is so pretty," Eileen said.

"Are you kidding me? No way, Gretchen is so much prettier," Tally said.

"But Regina has this whole popular thing going on," I said.

"I think Lindsey Lohan is the sexiest," Alexandra said.

"No way, it looks like her hair is on fire, it's so orange," I said.

"Firecrotch!" Tally said. (**a/n: I'm sorry if firecrotch is offensive to anyone reading this, but I think it's a funny term, and I know that I used it in eighth grade, so I thought that maybe Bella and her friends would too. Again, sorry**) 

We all started laughing so hard, because Tally, in fact, had orange hair.

"What is wrong with her mom? She doesn't care that her daughter is having sex?" Camille asked.

"With all that silicon in her breasts, it probably effects her brain," I stated.

"I mean seriously, look at her ass. It could feed a third world country," Alexandra said.

"And that dog biting on her nipple, doesn't that hurt?" Becky asked.

"Not if they're plastic," Tally answered. We all started laughing again.

"Ew, Lindsey Lohan dresses like a slut!" Alexandra said.

"But that dance was awesome, you have to admit," I said.

"Totally. We should make a dance for the talent show in high school," Becky said.

"I don't know; I heard that a lot of people stop being friends in high school. Like they get their own cliques," Camille said worriedly.

"Well, that totally won't be us. We will be best friends forever," I told them confidently. Inside I really did hope that we could all be best friends forever.

"We should do something, something that signifies our friendship," Tally said.

"Like what?" Eileen asked.

"I don't know; but something noticeable, so that in high school whenever we meet someone, they automatically know that we are best friends, and that we won't forget each other," Tally said.

"Like a tattoo?" Becky said.

"No, where do you think we could get a tattoo, smart one? And plus, those hurt," Camille said.

"Umm…what about a necklace?" I asked.

"Hmm…maybe. But I was thinking of something a little more unique," Tally said.

"Maybe we could all die our hair blonde," Alexandra suggested.

"Or brown," Camille pointed out.

"Or just, like, streaks," I said. "Maybe purple or something."

"That could work," Tally said. "Is purple a good color?"

"Yeah that sounds great," everyone agreed.

I headed upstairs to Alice because I knew that she had already seen this, and bought the purple dye.

"Coming Bella. Let me just get a few more things," she said.

I had a feeling that I might regret this in the morning, or rather, later today. But I pushed that feeling away, and headed downstairs to get my best friends.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Okay let's play a game," Tally suggested.

"What game?" Becky asked.

"How about Truth or Dare?" Tally answered.

"Oh yeah. This is going to be fun," I replied. "Okay, I'll start. Alexandra, truth or dare?"

"Hmmm…dare!" She cried.

"I dare you to…" I started while thinking. "To ask Mr. Frally," our science teacher, "what a blow job is!"

We all started laughing, "no way," Alexandra said between giggles.

"Yes way, and we have to be there to witness it!" I added.

"Okay, fine. But it's my turn now," she evilly. "Camille, truth or dare?"

"Truth," she said cautiously.

"Ugh, bor-ing," Alexandra said but thought of a truth anyway. "Ummm…I could date one of the Cullen guys, which one would it be?"

"Eww…I don't want to hear this," I complained.

"Too bad," said Alexandra. They waited for Camille's answer, while I just shook my head in disgust.

"Hmmm…probably Jasper. I like shy boys," she said.

"New subject!" I screamed.

"Okay, Eileen, truth or dare?" Camille turned to Eileen.

"Dare," Eileen said. Camille smiled evilly.

"I dare you to go to Edward Cullen and ask him for his number," she said.

"What? Hell no," she said.

"Oh yes. I had to embarrass myself and now you do too," she stated.

"But-," she began.

"Eileen, rules are rules," Tally said.

We all quietly ran up the stairs to my brother's bedroom. Even though I thought this was sick, I couldn't pretend that I wasn't excited to see Edward's face.

We stopped at Edward's door. From outside we could hear the sounds of Emmett, Jasper, and Edward playing video games. I had no doubt that they could hear us, as well as our plan. I opened the door for Eileen, and Tally pushed her forward. We all snickered but hid behind the door.

"Ummm…hi." Eileen said nervously.

"Hello, Eileen," Edward calmly. He was probably trying to make this as painless as possible for her.

"Um…Edward?" Eileen started.

"Yes?" He asked. Behind him, Emmett and Jasper were trying not to burst out laughing. I started to feel bad for her. She was probably mortified by now.

"Good night," she said quickly. She turned around and started to head back to the door, but before she could leave, Tally grabbed her arms and turned her around.

"You have to do it remember?" She whispered.

"But-," she stuttered. "But-."

"Just go," Becky said.

She turned around, took a deep breath and went up to Edward. "Edward, I was wondering if I could have your number?" She said.

"Sure, why not?" He smiled. He was so nice. He obviously knew that it was a dare and was totally cool about it. She got out her phone and punched in the numbers that he recited.

"Okay, thanks, bye," she said while she ran out the door. "Oh my God, I will never forgive you Tally, for this," she stated solemnly.

"Oh, you know you liked it," Tally teased. The girls started to head downstairs but I told them I had to go to the bathroom and then went to my brother's room.

Emmett was still teasing Edward about the dare.

"I just wanted to say thanks, Edward," I told him.

"No problem," he smiled. "Is she gonna be alright? She looked really stressed out."

I laughed. "Yeah, but don't worry. After we have some more sugar, she will probably forget about it."

"Hey Bella?" Edward called right before I walked out the door. "Is she going to be calling me at all?"

"No, I don't think she would really want to through the anxiety of having to talk to you again."

They all laughed as I walked down the stairs.

We got into bed, but of course, could not go to sleep.

"So I think we should go through the circle telling each other who we like," Camille suggested.

"I like Scott, obviously," I started.

"Hmmm… I like Tanner," Alexandra said. We laughed because she went to the dance with him and so it was obvious.

"I think I like Adam," Camille said; which was also obvious since she was going out with him."

"I like Drew," Eileen said.

"Wait, didn't you go to the dance with Alex?" I asked her.

"Yeah, but he is so clingy," she complained. "He would never leave me the entire night. It was starting to get annoying. Like I just wanted to talk to Becky about something, and he stands right next to me. I had to start talking about my period to get him to go away." We all laughed.

"Why do guys get all nervous when we talk about our periods? I mean seriously, it's natural. Melanie and I were talking about how bad our cramps were just last week and Josh and Gerard got totally grossed out and walked away." Alexandra told us.

"I think it has something to do with blood gushing out of our vaginas." Becky said. We all laughed.

"Oh my God, yesterday Sarah had to explain to Coach Clapp why she couldn't do P.E." Eileen told us.

"Oh, that must have been so embarrassing for her," I said sympathetically.

"Oh yes," Eileen assured us.

"One time, my mom went to go visit my Grandma in Alabama for a little bit, and I stayed with my dad. So during the night, I bled on my sheets, and I had to explain to my dad why I needed to wash my sheets," Tally said.

"Oh, that's harsh," Becky said.

"I remember when I first got my period…" I started.

FLASHBACK

**(A/N: When I started this story, one of my goals was to add a part when Bella first gets her period. But I accidentally skipped that age and so I am forced to tell the story through a flashback. Sorry.) **


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter

Chapter 15

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!," I screamed at the top of my lungs. Carlisle, Esme, Alice, and Rosalie were all hunting and Edward was grocery shopping while Emmett and Jasper were watching me. Or playing their video games.

'_What's wrong with me? Why is this happening? Oh my God, this is so embarrassing, but if I don't tell them, it might get worse!'_

I ran out of the bathroom with tears streaming down my cheeks and headed to the living room where Emmett and Jasper were.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!," I screamed again. By the time I walked out into the hallway, Jasper and Emmett were already there with panicked expressions.

"BELLA! Calm down. What's wrong?" Emmett asked me. I felt Jasper calming me, but the tears didn't stop and I was still freaking out.

"I-I'm bl-bl-bleed-ding down there", I whispered, and then broke out into more tears. "It-it w-w-won't stopppp", I muttered the last words.

"Fuck," Emmett cursed. He ran a hand through his brown messy hair. "What the hell do we do, Jasper?"

Jasper was silent the whole time; his eyes wide, and terrified. They both had no idea what to do with me. "Umm…I guess we could-we could ca-call Edward," he stammered.

Right then I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen. I bent down to the floor and clutched my stomach and cried out in pain. Now I was angry. "Why the hell are you two standing there like idiots?! Get me some Tylenol!"

They jumped when I yelled at them. When I saw their shocked faces, I immediately softened up. "Just please call Edward." They seemed to wake up after I begged in pain. Jasper grabbed the phone while Emmett went to go look for Tylenol.

"Umm…Edward. I think we have a problem. Something's wrong with Bella." I could hear Edward growling from five feet away.

"No, no, she's fine. I think. I don't know really." Another pain came and I moaned. I'm sure Edward heard that. "Yeah, you may want to come faster."

"Uh, Bella. We're out of Tylenol." He hesitantly, afraid that I would lash out at him again.

"Oh and buy some Tylenol, Bella's in pain." He winced when he said this. I knew this also must be horrible for him, because he could feel my pain, anger, and worry. When is Edward going to get here already?

I was laying on the couch, still freaking out when Edward came through the door.

"Bella! Where are you hurt?" He asked me urgently.

"I'm bleeding," I told him.

"What happened?" He asked me.

"I went to the bathroom, and then my underwear had blood on it." I started crying all over again.

"Oh Bella, thank God you're alright," he looked really relieved now.

"ALRIGHT?!" I shouted at him. I was angry now. "I HAVE BLOOD COMING OUT OF MY VAGINA AND I'M ALRIGHT?!"

Edward looked a little bit uncomfortable. "Well, yes. Bella, you started your period."

Then everything clicked. I knew about periods of course, but I never really thought about when mine was going to come. I laughed. My outburst seemed hilarious right now.

"I got the Tylenol," Emmett said cautiously. He was preparing himself for another outburst from me.

"Thanks, Emmett, but I don't really need it anymore. The pain is gone." I told him sweetly, so that he wouldn't be afraid of me. He just looked at me in shock. He then turned to Edward when I didn't yell at him.

"Dude, she went all psycho on us, just a second ago. Do you think she's playing a trick on us?" Emmett asked Edward. Edward just laughed at him.

"Did you just call me a psycho?" Emmett was making fun of me while I hurting and scared. He is such a monster. I was hurt. "Why would you do that Emmett? I was scared and frightened, and you're making fun of me? How can you tease me when I'm in pain?"

"Bella, I'm sorry. But you were just bitching us out a minute ago, and I thought that you might do it again." Emmett said.

"I was bitching you out? So now you're calling me a bitch? You're so caring, Emmett." I felt so hurt, by his comments, that a tear trickled down my cheek. "I thought that you and Jasper would comfort me, when I was upset, but now you're calling me a bitch," I told him. Hurt was laced in my words.

"No, Bella it wasn't like that-," He started.

"Just please be quiet," I interrupted him. I was really crying now. "I'm going to take a bath." I ran upstairs, with tears streaming down my face.

"Nice one, Emmett," Jasper said.

After a long bath, I went back to my room. I picked up the phone and dialed Esme.

"Mom?" I said into the phone.

"Oh, Bella. Are you alright?" I was getting really irritated with everyone asking if I was alright. Clearly, I was not alright.

"No! I'm not alright. Please come home, mommy." I begged.

"We're coming sweetie," Mom said calmly.

I went back downstairs, because I started to feel uncomfortable again, so I went to get some Tylenol. I ignored the boys, and then headed back to my room. Esme said that they weren't going to be here till late tonight. I thought maybe I could get some sleep.

"Oh dear, there is blood everywhere," I heard Esme say quietly. Her voice sounded strained. I opened my eyes to see Alice, Rosalie, and Esme all in my room holding their noses.

"She just woke up," Alice said.

"What are you doing in my room?" I asked them, half asleep.

Alice came to me and helped me out of bed. I looked back to my bed, where the mattress cover was stained red.

This was too much. I can't believe the levels of horrification and embarrassment I just achieved. I couldn't help the tears that were rolling down my face when I ran to my bathroom and locked the door. I took another bath, this one considerably longer.

I came out to find my bed with new, clean sheets, and Alice, Rosalie, and Esme all sitting on it.

We had a long talk about everything. I knew from that point on that my life would become more complicated but I wasn't too scared.

I opted to stay in room the rest of the day because I was terribly embarrassed to see the guys again. When I walked downstairs for dinner, I could feel everyone's eyes on me. They were probably trying to act casual, but they probably smelled my blood and were distracted.

"Here you go, Bella," Esme said, handing me a slice of pizza. I ate in silence, while Esme stared at me from the kitchen.

"God, will you just stop staring at me. I'm not gonna have a breakdown." I cried as I ran back up to my room.

Edward drove me to school the next day. Him and Carlisle were the only ones who didn't treat me any differently.

Edward pulled up to the school and parked the car. I made no movement toward getting out of the car. Edward must have suspected this because he didn't push me to get out.

"They are all disgusted with me, aren't they?" I asked him while looking straight forward. I couldn't meet his eyes, in case they told me I was right. My eyes started to get wet.

"No, Bella. Of course not. This is something completely natural, and they just need to get use to it."

"But right, they aren't use to it." A tear spilled on my cheek.

"Bella, right now, no one is use to it." He laughed to try to lighten my mood.

"Oh, I know." I smiled.

"Oh, Bella. Don't worry, it will be over soon." He said as he turned my head to look at him. He wiped away my tear, and put my hair behind my ear.

"Yeah, and then it will just come back next month. Perfect."

"We'll deal with it then." We sat quietly for a few more minutes.

"Are you sure you want to go to school today?" He asked me. At that moment I looked outside to see Tally, Alexandra, Becky, Eileen, and Camille waiting for me a few feet away. I smiled weakly and waved at them.

"I'm positive. I'll get over this in a few minutes. I'm a girl." He laughed. I wiped the remaining tears off my cheek. I checked my makeup in the mirror, put a little more eyeliner on to hide the redness on the rims of my eyes, and fixed my hair. I smiled at him and opened the door, to Alexandra shouting at me, "oh my God, I have so much to tell you!"

I looked back to Edward and waved good bye. He stared at me for a while and then started the car.

After school

Alexandra and I waited for Edward to pick us up after school. I asked her to come over my house after school today so that I could talk to her about this whole situation.

"Hey, Edward, Alexandra is coming over today," I told him as I got into the car.

"Okay," he said.

When we got home I led Alexandra up to my room. "Oh my God, I got my period." I told her.

"Haha, so that's what this is about. You were so stressed out when you asked me to come over today, that I thought you were pregnant or something." She said.

"Oh, God no," I said. "That would be frightening."

"Yes, it would," she said. "So when did this happen?"

"Yesterday, after school." I told her the entire story.

"Your brothers?! Hahahahaha. That must have been dreadful."

"It was! And completely embarrassing." I told her. "I yelled at them and cried. They are like freaked out about me now. Like they won't even talk to me without waiting for a breakdown."

"I think they will get over it," she said.

We kept talking for a while until she said that she had to get home to start her homework. I practiced a little in the pool before going in to start on my own homework. I was working at my desk when I heard someone knock on the door.

"Come in," I called out.

"Hey, Bella," it was Emmett.

"Hey Emmett."

"Just do you know, I'm not avoiding you or anything. I just wasn't use to you yelling at us. I'm sorry." He came over to hug me.

"Edward made you do this, didn't he?" I asked him.

"Yes, but I wanted to," he said.

I laughed but accepted his apology. It seemed that everyone needed to get use to this.


	16. Chapter 16

We all woke up at around noon, even though we only got about five hours of sleep

Chapter 16

(**A/N: **Okay I finally got this written. I had it on my mind for a while and finally sat down and wrote it.)

We all woke up at around noon, even though we only got about five hours of sleep.

"Well that night was eventful," I said sleepily. I got up and walked to the mirror. I looked at my hair. The purple streaks didn't look too bad against my chocolate brown hair. I wondered if Scott would like it.

"Whoa, my hair looks so weird with purple streaks in it," Alexandra said.

"I'm so hungry," Becky said. I suddenly heard my stomach gurgle.

"Me too. Let's go to the kitchen and get some breakfast," I looked at the clock. "Or lunch."

We sat at the table in the kitchen half asleep. I rubbed my eyes, smoothed out my hair to see seven vampires fixing us breakfast/brunch/lunch.

"Whoa, where did you guys come from?" I was instantly awake. All the girls picked their heads off of the table to look at my family. I can't believe that I totally missed them. I must have been really tired.

"We were in here the entire time, Bella," Alice said.

"Ugh, I need more sleep," I said as my head fell to the table.

"No, you don't. Otherwise you will miss your date with Scott," Alice teased. My head instantly popped up.

"Where is my cell phone?" I ran to the living room, searching for iPhone through all the sheets. I finally found it and saw that I had two missed calls, both from Scott. I ran back to the kitchen.

"Scott called!" I sat down at the table again and called Scott.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Bella," I said.

"Hey Bella, do you still want to do something today?" he asked.

"Yeah sure," I said. Alice motioned to me to say she wanted to tell me something. "Wait, hold on for a sec, Scott."

"What?" I hissed at her.

"Invite him to play water polo with you," she smiled.

"Great idea!" I said.

"Hey Scott, are you up for a one on one water polo game?" I asked him.

"Hell yeah! At your house?"

"Yep, can you come over in an hour." That would give me enough time to eat and clean the living room.

"Sure, see you then." He sounded ecstatic, which was wonderful.

I smiled and stared at my phone wondering if it was real.

"So you and Scott are going to play water polo?" Tally said.

"Yeah," I responded. Esme set a large plate of pancakes in the center of the table. We all murmured thanks, as we dug in.

"Don't guys wear Speedos when they play water polo?" Tally asked.

"Yep," I smiled. Everyone knew that Scott in a Speedo would be a wonderful sight.

We ate and then got dressed. I put on my Speedo, wishing it was a bikini, and then put some shorts and a shirt over. The girls left a little later, and then I helped Esme cleaning up the living room. I wasn't much help, but I did fold one of the sheets.

I looked at the clock and realized that I had only a few minutes before Scott would come.

I went to Jasper to help put in the water polo goals, and got the ball out. But before I could put on some music, the doorbell rang. I practically ran to the door.

"Ready to get whooped?" Scott said.

"I don't know, are you?" I laughed. He kissed me on my cheek before he came in. I blushed.

"I like your hair," he said as he picked up a purple streak.

"Thanks. It was a spontaneous thing, that we all did last night," I said.

We walked to the pool. He started to pull off his shirt while I went to put on some music on the stereo system.

I looked at his biceps, and they were big. He was so muscular, and had the wonderful happy trail that I could probably sit in bed at night thinking about. His hips were well defined, and as he unbuttoned his jeans, I looked at his thighs. They were thin, yet muscular. And his Speedo, I have to say, did not sag anywhere. A nice ass too. Thank God, Edward couldn't hear my perverted thoughts.

I walked to the chair where I also started to strip. I pulled off my shirt, and I'm pretty sure that I felt Scott's eyes on me, and then unbuttoned my shorts. I slowly slid them down my thigh, and then stepped out of them. I tied up my hair in a bun as Scott started to stretch. I put on my swim cap, cursing the inventor of such an unattractive thing. I dived into the pool and started on a few warm up laps. He did the same. After a few minutes we decided that we should start playing.

"Do we need a referee?" He asked me.

"No, I want to play dirty," I said seductively.

"Fine with me," he said. I think I saw him gulp.

I placed the ball in the middle as we both went to our sides of the pool.

"Okay, one on one is a little different," I said. "It's pretty much just keep away. If you want, I can get two of my siblings to play with us."

"Maybe later. Right now I just want to play with you." I couldn't help smiling like dork after he said that.

I said 'go' and we both raced for the ball in the middle of the pool. He got it but I knocked it out of his hand. I swam fast to the goal where I shot it and got a point.

"That's one for me," I said smiling, as I swam backstroke to the middle of the pool where Scott came after he retrieved the ball from the goal. I brought my hips up so that I could hold a better defense against him. He started swimming to my right and I cut him off, but not before he turned and swam away. He turned right as I put my hips down to block. I couldn't reach far enough out to block so he swam right beside me to make a goal. This went on for what seemed like forever but was only really half an hour. He was good, but not as good as Jasper. After you play with Jasper, you have to learn to work with your advantages. Like being smaller. I used that to surprise him when I knock my shoulder against his chest to try to break his defense. I also used that to climb on him when he would try to hold the ball out of my reach. He would hold it high above his head, and I would have to attach myself on him to reach up his arms to retrieve the ball. He was so surprised that he let go of the ball and I caught it and swam to make a goal. We were tied 19 to 19, and this would be the tie breaker. I had the ball but he stole it from but I blocked him and stole it back. But before I could swim away he grabbed me from behind and turned me around.

"That's a foul," I stated, as I treaded with the ball.

"You said you wanted to play dirty. And I think that little trick where you climbed on me to get the ball was also a foul." He said. He was smart.

He wanted to play dirty, I would play dirty. I grabbed his neck and pulled him into a kiss. He was so surprised but I stuck my tongue into his open mouth and when he reached for my waist, I swam away with ball and made a goal. He blinked a few times to comprehend what had just happened.

"I win," I stated simply.

"That wasn't fair," he said, jokingly.

"I said I wanted to play dirty," I laughed. "But you're right, it's not fair. It's a tie."

"No, no you won. You would have won in the end. You had the ball, and are very good at keeping it away from me." He said as he grabbed my hand. He leaned in to kiss me and I met his lips. I put my hand on his ripped out chest. Being in such close proximity of him made me nervous. I broke the kiss for air, but then we both backed away. We wouldn't want one of my brothers walking in to see us making out. So for about half an hour we passed the ball back and forth and tried some tricks.

"Okay, I'm getting tired," I said, as I pulled off my swim cap.

"Me too," he said. We got out of the pool and went to wear Alice set up some snacks, water and towels. I wrapped the towel around my waist and he did the same.

"So how do you think the tryouts are going to be for high school?" I asked him.

"I talked to my brother, he's on the water polo team and he said that it's really easy to get on." He told me.

Everyone knew Scott's brother. Probably the hottest guy at the Horace Mann High School (**a/n: **made up high school, I know an elementary school by the name of Horace Mann, but not a high school) but I don't fully know yet because I start high in the fall. Which is in exactly three months. But Scott's older brother, Nick, was probably the king. He looked exactly like Scott except taller, stronger, and more defined cheek bones. He also has a nonstop flow of blonde and stacked girlfriends. But he's only two years older than us, so sometimes he would talk to me or my friends when we all went to middle school together.

"That's good. I'm so nervous." I confessed.

"Why? You are awesome. I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're probably better than me." He said.

"Oh really, because that's just so hard to believe," I joked.

"Oh, but it is," he joked back.

After we ate, we went upstairs where I changed in my room, and he changed in the bathroom. When he was done, he knocked on my door to make sure I was decent.

"Yeah, you can come in," I called out. He walked in looking gorgeous. His hair was damp and matted to his head. He blue eyes sparkled, and I took in his wonderful smile. His straight white teeth and easy going stance was breathtaking. I cleared my throat and looked to the ground. "This is my room." I said as I sat on my bed.

"It's cool," he said. He looked at my pictures of me with my friends, and my family. "This picture is nice." He said pointing to one where I am dancing in the rain with Alice. I had on short shorts with American Apparel long socks, converse and a black tank top, with my hair soaking wet. Alice looked similar. It was freezing outside but we were really bored.

"You can have it if you want." I said. Oh God, I'm so stupid. Like he would actually want a picture of me.

"Thanks," he said, surprising me.

I walked to my Mac and brought up iTunes. "Okay, I might have to kill you if you tell me that you don't like Motion City Soundtrack."

"Are you kidding? They are my favorite band," he said.

"Good, it's my favorite band too," I said. We sang along and talked about school, and what high school would be like.

"Can you believe that we are graduating next week?" He asked me.

"Wow, we are going to high school. Can you believe that we are going to be freshmen?"

"Nope, but we have an entire summer to spend together before high school though. It will be the best summer ever," he promised.

"Let's take some funny pictures on photo booth," I suggested. We took photo after photo.

I was about to take another photo of us just smiling but before the camera off, Scott turned toward to give me a kiss on my lips. "That one is for your profile picture on facebook." He said.

We took another one of us kissing, and then I gave up on taking the photos and just focused on the kissing. We kissed for a while until we decided to go downstairs to watch some TV.

I turned on the TV but there was nothing on. We started making out again. We couldn't stop, it was just so addicting. I craved his lips all the time. Nothing else could amuse more than each others mouth. We tried different things, and he put his hand in my hair, while I rested one hand on his thigh and the other caressing his cheek. We were getting so into it that we didn't hear Emmett clear his throat the first two times. The third one we broke apart, and looked away sheepish.

"Yes Emmett?" I asked a little angry.

"Oh nothing, I just came in here to see what was on TV." He said as h glared at me. I glared right back.

"Well there's nothing, so can go back upstairs and play video games with Edward and Jasper."

"Actually I would rather stay down here," he said.

"We would too," Jasper said as he and Edward walked into the living room. I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks, guys," I mumbled sarcastically under my breath. We had a long awkward silence before Scott's cell phone rang.

"Hello?" Scott said. He listening for a little before answering. "Yeah sure. I'm still here so come any time." My heart sank. He had to leave. "Okay, Nick's picking me up? Yeah, five minutes." He hung up the phone. "It was my mom," he said. "I have five minutes."

"Okay," I said. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. Five minutes passed very quickly and Scott and I stood outside to wait for his brother.

"I'll see you on Monday," he said.

"But you have to talk to me tomorrow," I told him.

"Of course," he said before he kissed and then ran off to his brother's car. I waved at Nick and he waved back.

I walked back into the house, feeling very alone.

"Bella, you are never going to see him again," Emmett said.

"What?!"

"You two were practically having sex on that couch," he stated.

"No we weren't! We were just kissing. God, why do you have to freak out?" I asked him.

"I'm being very reasonable, Bella," Emmett said.

"Jasper," I looked at Jasper, "is Emmett being reasonable? That just because Scott and I kiss, we can't see each other anymore?"

He looked panic-stricken. I was asking him to choose over Emmett or me.

"I think that Bella should be able to make out with her boyfriend," Jasper said. "I mean as long as she's careful."

"There you go," I said. I smiled at Jasper. My new favorite brother.

"I agree with Emmett," Edward said.

"I don't," I said, glaring at Edward.

"Bella, you are a little young to be kissing boys."

"I'm fourteen! I will be fifteen in a month! That's old enough. Why don't you trust me?" I asked.

"We trust you, Bella. It's him we don't trust," Edward explained.

"Well then you trust me that Scott is a good person," I told them.

"How do we know that you aren't doing more than kissing?" Emmett asked me.

"Oh, I think you know everything that we do," I said referring to the fact that they are vampires and have superb hearing. They could probably hear everything we said and every time our lips met.

"What about at school or his house, when we aren't there," Emmett said.

"Then you will just have to trust me that I'm doing the responsible thing." I shot.

"Bella," Jasper said calmly. "We are only worried because we love you. We will trust you, but you also have to promise to be careful. You can't be careless or irresponsible."

"I promise. Gosh, I don't know why you all think I'm going to get pregnant after kissing a guy." I said as I stomped up the stairs.

(**A/N: **Hope you were able to follow along with the water polo, if not, don't worry. It probably doesn't make sense unless you actually see it. More to come. DDDD )


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I woke up in a little bit of a daze. Graduation Day. In fall, I would be going to high school. I sat in bed for a while until I thought, I'm in high school. Finally.

I ran downstairs, screaming, "I'm in high school!"

Before I knew it, I was falling. But soon, a pair of cold hands caught me.

"You still have one more day left of eighth grade, Bella," Edward replied smoothly. I rolled my eyes.

"What's another seven more hours?" I responded. I stood and ran downstairs to get breakfast. When I got back, an outfit was already laying on the bed for me. I was too excited to get mad at Alice for giving me such a short dress.

The only thing I was more excited for, was the graduation party after the ceremony. I heard from the year ahead of me that it's going to be really big. I turned my stereo on almost as loud as it could go, blasting "I'm Not Over", by Carolina Liar.

(**A/N: I'm skipping the graduation ceremony, because I think everyone has been to one or their own. There's nothing to write about, so I'm skipping to the party**)

Camille, Alexandra, Eileen, Tally, Becky and I were all in my room gossiping and getting ready for the party. We all agreed to get ready at my house, because it was the biggest. I liked that my house was the center of things, but I really didn't like having my whole family listening to my secrets, and my friends' secrets.

I looked at Alice's "suggested" outfit. I didn't throw a fit when she gave me it because it was just so cute!

I was suppose to call Scott, because he said he wanted to talk about something, but I don't know why he would want me to call him when I'm going to see him in less than an hour. I would just talk with him at the party.

My girlfriends and I walked through the doors of the Hilton hotel to where the party was being held, arm in arm. I saw Scott across the room and smiled at him. He smiled weakly back. That's odd. After we made our entrance, I walked over to where Scott was talking with his friends. We all joked around for a while until an awesome song came on.

"Scott, do you want to dance?" I asked him, taking his hand.

"No, I don't feel like it right now," he said as he grabbed his hand back.

"I'll dance with you, Bella," Ty, Scott's friend said. I graciously took Ty's hand. We started dancing and soon I realized how hot Ty is. I never noticed him before because I was always so obsessed with Scott. He has midnight black hair with bright green eyes. I looked into his emerald eyes as the songs switch to a slow song.

"I'm sorry if this is awkward, but I felt bad when Scott say no to you in front of all those people," Ty explained.

"Thanks, I don't know what's up with him tonight," I said dreamily. Being in Ty's presence was making me happy.

"Hey, Bella? We're friends, right?"

"Yeah, of course," I said.

"If I tell you something, it's only because it's a friend telling something to a friend, not because I want to hurt you. Because I think Scott is so stupid, and I think you should have a right to know." He told me solemnly.

"Okay,…can you tell me already?"

"Scott is planning to break up with you," he told me.

I stopped dancing. "What?" I almost yelled.

"Keep dancing!" he whispered desperately.

"What?" I asked again.

"I'm telling you this because I think Scott is having temporary insanity. So I just say avoid him tonight, and maybe he will forget about it tomorrow."

"But,"I started helplessly. "Well, he obviously has a good reason to break up with me, and so I want to hear it." With that, I dropped Ty's hands and walked over to Scott.

"I want to break up," I blurted out before I even could think about it. What was I doing? What if Ty was lying to me? But Scott has been acting weird and not getting close to me. The last time we talked, seemed bored. I just thought he was tired, but I never thought that he was tired of _us_. Scott's jaw dropped and I lifted my chin. I would not be embarrassed. I would be dumping him, not him dumping me. Scott was known in the high school, because of his brother. In the fall, I would automatically enter high school and the girl who Scott dumped. And looking back to our past hang outs, I was getting bored with the relationship. The only things we had in common were music, water polo, and kissing. And I was getting tired of liking the exact same music as someone. I wanted variety and change. I wanted someone who didn't need to hang around a group of friends to be cool. Someone who I couldn't beat easily, like Scott. Someone who was stronger and faster than me so that I don't feel superior to him. I knew that these guidelines would be very hard to fulfill but hopefully someone will come close.

"What?" Scott asked me.

"You heard me, I want to break up. I was getting bored and I want to be free over the summer." Scott grabbed my arm and led me out of the room, into the hallway near the bathrooms.

"Did you have to do that in front of all our friends?" He asked me angrily.

"You were going to do that to me, weren't you?" He was quiet. "All the times that we hung out, and you couldn't tell me this then? And then you _reject _me in front of all our friends. Were you going to just let me stand there, looking stupid, while people around me whisper about me getting turned down by my so-called boyfriend?!" He looked away, ashamed. My voice softened. "Why would you dump me in front of all your friends? I know you were planning it, I know all your friends already knew what was going to happen. And so you purposely planned my public humiliation?"

"Gosh, Bella. You're making a big deal out of nothing." He said quietly. He still looked down.

"Just tell me why, Scott. I have never been mean to you."

"Bella," Scott groaned. "You're perfect. Do you know how hard it is to go out with a perfect girlfriend? One who is better than you in every way. Hotter, smarter, stronger, more talented, and more popular? You're spontaneous, beautiful, and you kick ass in water polo. I feel so minuscule when I'm with you. You're nice to everyone, and you're family adores you. Every girl at school wants to be you, and every guy wants you. A few days ago, we were talking, and I was telling a story and you sounded so bored with me. You sounded like you had a million other things you wished you were doing, but I know that you're way too sweet to ever say that to anyone. You would need a superhuman to be your boyfriend to not feel inferior to you."

"Oh," I was at a loss for words. Of course I didn't believe him. What girl would want to be me? I don't know my real parents, and my brothers are way too overprotective. I live in a house with seven vampires who can really get on your nerves and sometimes can never relate to you. "So you were never bored with our relationship?"

"No, Bella. You make everything exciting. But are you bored with our relationship?" He asked. I didn't need vampire hearing to hear the pain in his voice.

"I never thought about it before. But when I thought you were bored, then I realized that I was bored with our relationship too." I took a deep breath. "So I think we should break up."

He nodded. "Okay. I guess I deserve it."

"No Scott. You are way too nice to deserve this. I'm sorry. Are we still friends?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah, yeah of course. But just know, that if you ever change your mind, I'm here."

"Okay, but I don't believe that shit about me being so superior. I mean I know I rock at water polo, but come on. There are many prettier girls at school than me."

"Sure, Bella. Just keeping thinking that, and I will always like you," he said with a sad smile.

It hurt me so much to see him in pain, so I murmured a good bye and turned around. I needed some air so I walked out the door and headed outside.

"I knew you would be a heartbreaker," said a velvet voice from behind me.

I turned around to Edward walked toward me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Alice," he said simply.

"Are you okay?" He asked me. He sat down on the curb next to me. I looked up into his eyes. The golden irises seemed way more irresistible than Ty's, not mention even Scott's.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to be okay. I hurt Scott though." I looked down, ashamed at how I embarrassed him in front of his friends. I would apologize for that the next time I see him.

"I think he will get over it. But I must say, Bella. What did you do to him that you had him so wrapped around your finger?" He joked.

"What are you talking about?" I asked surprised.

"He looks at you like you're an angel. He compares himself to you, and can't help but beat himself up inside when you would probably do something better than him." He stared at me. "I must agree though. You are very god-like."

"Pshhh, why do people keep telling me that? You obviously don't know me as well as you think you do." I got up and started walking to where I saw Edward's Volvo parked.

"Oh really? And what don't I know about you?" He laughed. I grabbed his hand and swung it back and forth.

"I don't understand geometry that well," I countered.

"You do outstanding in geometry, and that's not considering that you're suppose to be in Algebra with your classmates."Edward rolled his eyes.

"I don't floss every night," I told him. But I whispered it behind my hand to make it seem like a secret.

"Oh no, you are such a bad girl," Edward as he lifted me on his back.

"And I have a weird obsession with 90210, that civilized young woman should not be corrupted by."

"Bella, all the girls in your grade watch 90210, and Gossip Girl, and all the reality shows, that aren't really reality."

" Well, I…" I tried think of something else. "I don't make my bed every morning and on Friday nights I just drop my clothes on the floor without bothering to pick them up."

"But Esme comes in the middle of the night to pick the clothes so it really doesn't matter." Edward pointed out.

"But I still shouldn't have to make her clean up my messes." I pointed out.

Edward just shook his head. "I think you should be started Grad School next fall not high school. I have met people in college who are way more unorganized than you."

"Whatever. I'm just unique." I laughed.

"Oh yes, you are." Edward agreed. "How about some ice cream?"

"Definitely."

"You don't mind missing your graduation party?"

"Nope, I'd rather hang out with you." I smiled at him, and he placed me in the front seat. I don't think I would come across a man like Edward.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

**(A/N: Just an answer to some people. EdwardXBella will come. So calm down and be patient. Bella has to realize first why she likes him. If she grows up with him, she will always know Edward as just her brother. But if she takes time to see how good of a guy Edward is compared to the ones she's been dating, then when she finally realizes that she loves him, he will be the best guy she has ever met. So it will come. But right now, I'm just having some fun with all the guys that are interested in Bella. =D )**

Edward didn't tell the rest of the family about what happened; at least, not in front of me. No one came up to me to ask if I was alright or anything, I really appreciated it. But since summer started, truthfully, I haven't thought about Scott once. Well, I actually wondered how he was doing when my friends asked about what happened between us. But I didn't feel any other attachment to him. But was I glad. My friends and I have been hanging out everyday for about two weeks straight. We hung with some high school kids at the malls, movie theaters, parks and other places like restaurants. High school didn't look so threatening now that I would go in with a lot of friends. I was surprised at how many people already knew me from Scott.

"So I heard you have some sick water polo skills," said Lina, a sophomore who is currently going out with Nick, Scott's brother.

"Who did you hear that from?" I asked her. We were hanging out at the park with all of my friends plus Scott and his friends, and Nick and his friends.

"Scott. He was practically mesmerized by your moves. So are you going to take summer conditioning?" She asked me.

"Should I?" I was grateful to be talking to another girl water polo player. Line was only a sophomore, but she plays with the varsity. I heard she was really good.

"You don't have to. Almost no freshmen do the conditioning because they don't know about it. But trust me, when you get to tryouts and you know everyone and every play, coaches are impressed. That's how I got onto the varsity team."

"Then sure. I'm totally going to do it. Will you go?" I asked her. She was wonderfully beautiful. She had long ash blonde hair with soft hazel eyes. It was hard to imagine that she could ever get rough in a water polo game. But from the stories I hear, she is very aggressive.

"Yep, I'm going. I'll introduce to all the girls." She smiled. "And the guys."

I laughed a nervous laugh. Water polo guys were known for their built bodies. They were all very close with each other, (when you are in practice twice a day for four hours, you tend to get close with the people that you are being tortured with) and some are very cocky. The thing about water polo guys is that the stereotype of them all being very hot made a lot of them very stuck up. But not all; Scott is modest.

"I think you would look really good with Christian May. Seriously, we need to get you two together. Amanda!" She turned to the curly brown haired girl next to her. She was petite with a small mouth but a wonderful smile. She was so tiny I had no idea how she would hold her own in a game.

Lina told Amanda how perfect I would look with Christian. "Oh my God, you are so totally right!" She had a perky voice that could get annoying very easily. "Wait, let me invite him now." She got out her blackberry and started typing a text message.

"What grade is he in?" I asked unsure. I didn't like being set up with a guy that I didn't know. While people say that I have a charisma that guys are attracted to, I get very shy around guys that I just meet.

"He's a junior." Lina replied while she talked with Nick.

"A junior? Why would he be interested in a freshman?" I got really nervous that Christian might embarrass me in front of everyone by saying he didn't like me because of how young I was. Also, a junior? He's probably sixteen. I'm only fourteen. I knew my family wouldn't like me going out with a guy that is two years older than me.

"You'd be surprised how many guys are interested in you, Bella." Nick told me. For anyone else, they might think he was interested in them, but knowing that it's Nick, I knew he was just telling the truth. When Scott and I hung out at his house, Nick would sometimes be with us too. He was really nice, almost like another brother. My friends always said how lucky I was to hang out with him, but I never thought of Nick in a romantic way.

"But a junior?" I asked disbelieving.

"Chill out, Bella. You're not marrying him. You don't even have to go out with him. We're just all hanging out." Nick calmed me down. I was just overreacting. By how the girls were describing him, he sounded hot, so I automatically thought that I wouldn't be cute enough for him.

"You guys want to set _her _up with _Christian_?" A girl with blonde hair that was obviously dyed said. She had an unturned nose, and bushy eyebrows.

"Oh, shut it, Cassandra. You're just bitter that Christian rejected you. Twice," Lina shot at Cassandra. Cassandra scowled and marched off. Lina turned to me. "Better watch out for her. She might cut your hair in your sleep if you start hanging out with Christian." I think I might have lost all the color in my cheeks because Lina, Nick and Amanda started laughing. "Gosh, where is that loser?" Just as she said that, a car pulled up. There was a guy in the driver seat but I couldn't see him too well. But damn. He drove. That is so cool. The door opened and Christian stepped out of the car.

At this point, I could totally understand Cassandra's obsession with him. He was gorgeous. But a badass gorgeous. He was wearing sunglasses so I couldn't see his eyes, but his black hair was messed up to perfection. He looked like he just rolled out of bed with that wild hair of his. But of course, it looked unbelievably sexy. He was wearing black jeans that showed how lean and muscular his thighs were, but weren't too tight. He was wearing a regular sweater that didn't even put a dent in his laid back demeanor. He walked with a confident stride and kept a laidback smile on his pale full lips. He was almost vampire worthy attractive. Almost.

"Hey, Christian. Over here." Nick called him over. Nick is also a junior. Apparently he and Christian were good friends. Christian turned and started walking towards us.

"Oh my God," escaped my lips before I could control it. Lina turned back to me and smiled. She obviously knew that whatever qualms I had about meeting Christian May were now diminished.

But when Christian turned to me, I felt a variety of emotions. The strongest being self conscious. All of a sudden I was aware that I didn't put on any makeup that day, I didn't straighten my hair, but just let it go wavy. I was aware that I denied Alice the right to pick out my outfit, when I should have just let her. She probably could have picked out a better outfit than Hollister jean shorts, converse, and a black spaghetti strapped tank top. I had a gray Urban Outfitters cardigan in my bag but I knew I would look insecure if I put it on right at that moment. I wondered when the last time I shaved my legs was, and hoped that my nails looked okay, and that my lips looked appealing. All in all, being around Christian made me aware of how inferior I was compared to him. I didn't like feeling that, but I definitely liked being watched by someone as hot as him. He kept his eyes on me, and I felt special and important to be noticed by someone like him.

It amazed me to no end how I thought of all of this in the entire three seconds it took Christian to walk to our group. I also noticed that people were staring.

"Hey, guys," Christian said. He words just flowed together. He probably could have said something incompetent and it would have sounded just as nice.

"Hey Christian. You know my brother, Scott, right?" Nick asked after he greeted Christian with some sort of hand shake/hug that guys always did.

"Yeah, of course. Good at water polo, that's how I remember him." He looked back to me for a second. I was about to squeal right then and there.

Nick pointed to me. "This is his ex-girlfriend, Bella Cullen."

"Nice to meet you." He said as he shook my hand. It was so warm!

"Same," I said confidently, despite my uneasiness inside.

"Ex? Hope you weren't too hard on Scott when you dumped him." He joked.

"Actually, it was a mutual thing." I admitted.

"Psh. I doubt that." Christian said.

"What?" I asked with a smile.

"Scott would never have given you up by his own free will." Nick said. "You don't know about how much he gushed about you with you two were going out. He adored you."

What was I suppose to say to hearing that your ex-boyfriend really never wanted to break up?

"Seriously, though. I thought you two would have lasted longer." He turned to Christian. "They would never be apart, those two. Made out everywhere they went. All the time." Oh, God. Nick is telling Christian how much Scott and I use to make out?! This is not good.

"Ahhh, she's blushing," Christian stated while chuckling a little. Even his laugh was wonderful.

"So I never got the whole story from Scott. What happened between you two?" Nick asked. Now everyone was waiting for me to explain. Oh, gosh. I really don't want to talk about this.

"Umm, well. We just, uh, got bored. Yeah, we got bored," I looked down. Well, I got bored. He still wanted me. It was hard to deal with, but I was good at avoiding the subject in my head.

"Liar. Whatever, I won't ask anymore questions. Because I know you two were keeping busy." I walked over to Nick and fake slapped him on the arm. I was going to get so angry at him later. Right now it just looked like I was teasing him. "Anyway," Nick said loudly to change the subject. "Bella is pretty badass at water polo, I hear. Scott said you whipped him in your one-on-one game."

That got Christian's attention. "Really? I haven't seen you on the girl's water polo team."

I was trying to avoid this. "That's because I'm a freshman."

"Really?" He looked genuinely surprised. "I would have never guessed."

"Why? Do I look older?" I asked as I tilted my head up a little so that I would look older. But now that he knew I was in ninth grade, nothing could save me now.

"Yeah, that and that all the freshmen are over there by the swings," he looked over to where all my friends sat and talked. "And you are here, hanging with the sophmores and juniors. You fit in so well, that I thought you were probably a sophmore or junior."

Oh gosh, I am so embarrassed. He just bluntly asked why I was hanging around with sophmores and juniors instead of people my own age. Was he telling me to go?

"Christian, Bella is probably the coolest one here," Nick explained as he came over to me to put his arm around my shoulders. "You should be honored just to be in her presence."

"Anyway, she's already friends with the entire girls JV and varsity water polo teams. But we need to find her a suitable water polo boyfriend." Lina added as she gave me a small smile. I think that they all thought that they were helping me, but could they be a little more indiscreet? I mean, seriously. Why don't they just ask him already to be my boyfriend? It would save a lot of time.

"Really? Any candidates?" He asked, clearly amused.

I spoke before Lina could even open her mouth. "Actually, I don't want to go out with any water polo guys. Too stuck up for my taste." I said with a flirty smile. Christian acted like he was stabbed in the heart.

"Bella?" He said, obviously acting exasperated. "How could say something like that? So you think I'm stuck up? There goes our relationship." He stated as he shook his head. I couldn't help but laugh.

"So what were you doing with Scott then?" Nick asked me.

"Scott isn't technically on the water polo team yet." I pointed out.

"Yeah, right. Coach loves me, and Scott is like my little brother. Scott is going to get on the team, for sure," Christian stated. "By the way, I want to hear more of this notorious game between you and Scott." Before I could stop him, he called Scott over.

"Hey, guys," he turned to me. "Hey, Bella." He smiled. Oh, no. Please, please, please don't embarrass me Scott.

"So Scott, you and Bella use to go out?" Christian asked. I shot Christian a glare, which he ignored. I didn't want to be embarrassed, but I also didn't want to Scott to be either.

"Yeah. Good times," he turned to me again. I looked away.

"I was just telling them how we mutually broke up," I said. I said the 'mutually broke up' part slowly and pointedly so that Scott would catch on that I didn't want these guys making fun of him for being broken up with.

"Haha, Bella. You don't have to sugarcoat it. Yeah, she broke up with me. But damn was she smart about it. I was going to break up with her, because I thought she was going to break up with me. And when she heard that, she broke up with me first." He looked down in regret.

"God, Bella. Could you be anymore of a bitch?" Christian asked.

"I-I", I began to try to defend myself and then I saw Christian laughing.

"I was just teasing you, Bella. Calm down. So how did your guys' water polo game go?" He asked Scott.

"Bella crushed me." Scott admitted.

"No, I didn't. I remember that it was a tie in the end." I said.

"No, you won."

"Only because I cheated."

"I cheated too. You said you wanted to play dirty."

"Whoa, slow down. How did you cheat? I mean, I think it's pretty hard to cheat in water polo." Christian looked confused.

I looked away sheepish. I would let Scott explain this one. Lina, Amanda, Nick, and some other people that I didn't know, were now paying attention to this story. They must have thought that it would be interesting because I looked down, like I didn't want to hear it. Scott pointed at me. "She climbed on me." He stopped because Nick and Christian were now adding their commentary.

"Nice. I think we should play a water polo game sometime, Bella," Christian replied to me. His eyes looked over my body as if imagining me in a bathing suit, climbing on him.

"Hey, it wasn't just me. He grabbed me around my waist, and then threw me. That's not fair." I tried to defend myself but the guys were already laughing.

"Yeah, and you think distracting me by kissing me is fair either?" He asked. Christian and Nick were hooting something about me playing dirty.

I knew Scott and I were just teasing each other, so I simply shrugged my shoulders. "Hey, it worked."

Christian and Nick were still laughing. Alexandra walked up to me and tapped my shoulder. "Yeah?" I asked her.

"My mom is coming in five minutes. Do you want a ride home? I'm already taking Eileen and Tally."

"Yeah, that would be great," I thanked her. Saves me the trouble of calling one of my siblings.

"Leaving so soon, Bella?" Christian asked.

"Yeah, Alexandra is giving me a ride home." I kind of wished that I didn't have to leave so early, but then again, I don't want to be embarrassed again.

"I could give you a ride if you want," he said as he nodded toward his car. My family would have a fit if they saw that Christian was driving me home.

"No, thanks. I'll see you all later," I waved good bye to everyone, grabbed my bag, and walked with Alexandra to her mom's waiting car.


	19. Chapter 19

**a/n: sorry sorry sorry sorry**

**I took forever to write this, but I have been working on another story that I haven't posted yet, just one-shot, that I am trying to get right**

Chapter 19

It was the first day of conditioning and I was scared. It was practically the first day of high school, with less people, and no classes. I kind of resented the fact that my friends could sleep in and then hangout together today, while I would be working. I had to wake up at five in the morning, because conditioning started at six. It ended at eight, so I could still hang out with my friends, but I would be very tired. And would smell like chlorine. Yick.

With my swim bag on my shoulder and Rosalie walking with me on my right, I grew anxious. I'm sure that there are a lot more people that I haven't met. I worried that Lina and Amanda and everyone else I became friends with were going to ditch me to hang out with cooler people.

But as I debated ditching, I remembered something. Or rather, someone. _Christian_. He told me he was going to conditioning. He told me it would be fun. Even if it was hell, it would be worth it to see Christian in a Speedo. I felt my cheeks grow warm and tried to fight back a smile.

"What are you smiling about, Bella? At the house Jasper said you as nervous as could be, and now you're smiling," Rosalie laughed. Her blonde hair shimmered in the moonlight. Apparently, at six in the morning it is very dark, and very cold. I hugged my sweatshirt closer to my body to keep warm.

No matter how much protest I put up, Rosalie insisted on coming. But at least she was better than the guys. They wanted to stay the entire practice. I'm not so sure that they wouldn't sneak in and watch. When I opened the door to the swim gym, I saw that no other siblings or parents stayed with the kids.

"Rosalie, leave," I hissed. I tried to push her back out, but she stood still, hard as stone.

"Do you really want me to go, Bella?" She looked at me with puppy dog eyes. No! I knew she wanted to watch practice just like the rest of my family. I almost gave in to those soft amber eyes until I remembered Christian. I definitely didn't want him comparing me to my sister. She unworldly beautiful and I was just plain. Next to her flowing blonde hair, high cheekbones, perfectly round lips and ass, I would look like a curve-less, stringy haired, little naïve kid. This would not do. I loved my family to death, but their beauty did not rub off on me.

"Bye, Bella. Good luck on your first day," Rosalie said after she gave me a kiss good bye on my cheek. Just as she turned around though, Christian walked through the door. He held out the door for Rosalie. What guy wouldn't? But then he started walking to me.

"Hey, Bella," he said as he ruffled my hair. His hair was messy as always. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses again, but he was wearing Adidas sports pants, loafers, and a sweatshirt. He looked like he was warm and half asleep.

"Hey," I said, pretending to be annoyed as I fixed my hair. But inside I was smiling like a goof.

"Who was that?" He asked me, referring to Rosalie. He sounded more curious than interested.

"My sister, Rosalie," I replied. We set our bags on the stands and sat down. We were early, I guess, because not a lot of people were there. But when I looked down at the time on my cell phone, it was five past six. I made a mental note, so that tomorrow I wouldn't come so early.

"Sister?" He asked me. He didn't sound interested, just curious.

"Yep. Where is everyone?" I asked Christian. There was only Lina, Amanda, Cassandra, Scott, and about fifteen other people. But I knew that there was at least 60 players in the whole sport.

"These are the only people that come to the conditioning. The best and coolest people, I might add," he winked at me. I giggled.

"Bella, get changed already. We need to teach you how to put the goals in, because it will be your job from now on, freshie," Lina called from the deck. It was an inside pool, thank god, so the water was going to be warm. But we had to take the lane lines out and put the goals in so that we could play, because the camp that swam here undid all of our work.

"Great," I muttered. Christian heard me and laughed.

"Don't worry, we all went through it. But I think we won't be as hard on you as the other freshmen, because we like you," Christian assured me. He started to unzip his bag and I turned to my bag to start putting my clothes in. I wore my suit underneath.

"Oh, thank you, for hazing me less than all the other freshmen," I said sarcastically. I looked up to see Christian taking off his shirt. Oh. My. God. He was built. Like he even had back muscles, not to mention a six pack with huge biceps. He had a V, where his very well-defined hips led down to his jeans. It was like seeing Scott's body with more muscle prominence.

"No problem," he responded with just as much sarcasm. I took off my shirt and then unzipped my pants. I was looking for my cap and goggles in my swim bag when I saw him take off his pants. He had thin thighs, which had huge muscles in them. It was like whole top half of his thigh was pure muscle. The only time I've ever seen that on someone was Emmett, but Christian has thinner thighs. **(A/N: I can't really explain their thighs too well, so if you google water polo player and look at BUILT players you see that their thighs kind of point like outward, it's weird but kind of hot) **"But I can't make any promises on Freshmen Friday, just so you know," he warned. All I could do was nod. Freshmen Friday, sounded wonderful.

I put on my cap as Christian and I walked to the pool. I looked up and met his eyes. I almost gasped to see he finally took off his sunglasses. He eyes looked like melted amber. So familiar. I know I had seen eyes like that somewhere.

The goals were very heavy, made of metal and about three feet high. Even with Scott helping me, we struggled to get the goals in. All the while, the rest of the water polo players were chuckling at our weakness.

I was walking to the end of the pool where I saw the coaches talking. One was a young man. Probably late twenties. He had short blonde hair and looked like he got a lot of sun. The other was a woman, a little bit older, but with long dark hair. The two looked up when I passed.

"Bella Cullen?" He asked me.

"Yes."

"I met your brothers in the parking lot. Cool guys," he said and then turned to walk up to the deck.

Lina came up to me while pushing some hairs into her cap. "That was Coach Davin. He usually hates Freshmen. He's really funny though." I nodded as I looked into the dark water of the pool. Christian already started doing laps. He moved effortlessly in the water. His arm muscles contracting as he lifted his head up for air. I think Lina noticed my swooning because she said, "stop drooling", into my ear. I giggled, turned red, and jumped into the pool.

We did some warm up laps, some drills, and started passing. Practice wasn't too bad. But I had to ask the people around me a lot about what was going on.

Throughout the entire practice, though, coach was laughing and teasing with us. He seemed like a high school boy rather than another adult. Once in a while did he stop to tell us to go faster, or push harder, but most of the time he would tease guys about their nicknames, and sing the music that was playing. Apparently, he liked to practice to music. He would sing or dance just to get a laugh out of us, which we would generously do. All in all, the practice was a lot of fun, definitely worth waking up at five.

We got out of the pool, and Scott and I took out the goals. It was still just as hard. Coach Davin saw us struggling but only chuckled. Not funny. He was talking with some other girls at the end of practice. He was such a peculiar coach. He was laughing with them just as if they were good friends. But the way that he was talking to them reminded me vaguely of flirting. Maybe he really believed that he was still in high school.

I walked to the showers in the deck, where all the players were showering. The showers were obviously meant for only four people, yet at least eight were in them. I just waited on the edge, for someone to leave, not really comfortable rubbing against a stranger. But Lina pulled me to a shower she was sharing with Amanda. I giggled when they sprayed me with water, but frowned when Cassandra sulked out of the showers.

"Don't worry about her," Lina said to me.

"Who?" A guy asked.

"Cassandra," Lina explained.

"Oh, yeah. She's always been that bitter. Remember when coach made her play for junior varsity water polo? She got so pissed." He laughed at the memory.

I washed my hair and grabbed my towel. I was one of the last ones out the showers. I took my bag with me to the bathroom to change. Apparently, no one changed in the locker room. Another thing I would have to remember. I took off my suit and unzipped my bag. I put my bra and underwear on, and reached down for my shirt and shorts. But there wasn't anything there. Oh God. I must have left them in the stands. I started to freak out. How could I go out there with only a bra and underwear on? I would be so embarrassed, in front of everyone and the coaches.

Wait a minute. I remembered zipping up my bag with my clothes in it, but when I got my bag, the zipper was open.

Wonderful. This was freshmen hazing. Well the upside is, is that I'm not that unlucky to leave my clothes on the stand, but the downside is that they were probably all waiting in the stands for me to realize that I don't have anything to change into. I considered putting my suit back on, but it was still wet, and it would take forever to get it on. By then, Lina and all of them could already be gone with my clothes.

I took a deep breathe. Wrapping my towel around myself and praying to God that no one would have to see my Victoria Secret's Pink blue bra, and my black spanky underwear. At least I didn't wear a thong today, I thought.

I put a hand on the doorknob, took another deep breathe and opened it. Keeping my towel firmly tight around my body, I walked out of the bathroom and towards the stands, where I could hear everyone talking.

"Lina!" I shouted. I knew she was behind this. I crossed the bridge to the stands and saw Coach Davin talking with Christian, and then look down to me. I looked at Lina; she just shook her head and looked at Cassandra.

"Did you forget something, Bella?" Cassandra asked sweetly.

"Give me my clothes back," I shouted.

"Okay, okay, calm down. I'll give you your clothes back if you do one thing for me," Cassandra said.

"What?" I asked tersely.

"Give me your towel. I forgot mine today," she said. I just stared at her. I instinctively clutched my towel tighter. She laid my shirt and shorts at the top of the stand near Coach Davin and Christian. They both looked too amused to do anything.

I looked her straight in the eye, and dropped my towel. But before she could grab it, I rubbed my feet on it and rubbed it across the floor.

"Have fun cleaning yourself with a dirty towel," I said to her as I walked up the stairs and grabbed my clothes. I felt satisfied and I heard a guy whistle. I didn't know if it was at my lack of clothes or the way I just dissed a junior.

I pulled on my shorts in front of Cassandra, and then pulled on my shirt. Then I leaned down to pick up my bag and walked to Lina who was waiting for me at the door of the swim gym.

"Nicely done, Freshman," she admired.

I just nodded as I called Edward to come pick me up.

Christian caught up to us, along with Amanda, Scott and that other guy. "What are you doing today?" Amanda asked me.

"Probably going back to sleep when I get home. I'm not use to waking up this early. I like my sleep," I told them.

"Oh, hang out with us tomorrow then," Amanda said. I wanted to protest, saying that I would get sleep later. I realized, though, that sounded immature. So I just nodded.

Edward walked up to the stone steps we were sitting on. "Ready?" He asked.

"Yep," I answered. But before we walked away, Edward turned to look curiously at Christian. I took his hand and pulled him away, even though I wasn't actually pulling him away. "Rude much?" I asked him.

Edward just had on that expression that showed he was thinking about something.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

I couldn't sleep. I would think about Christian and then start smiling. What is wrong with me? Just because he talks to me sometimes, doesn't mean anything. Although, Alice says this is a good sign. I let out a frustrated moan and turn away from the ceiling. I looked at my clock. 2 A.M. This is not good. I have to wake up in three hours, for the last day of water polo conditioning. Then, I have two more weeks until high school starts.

I turned over onto to my side and took a deep breath. Then I started to think of the second thing that kept me up at night: Edward. Not in the same way as Christian though. Every time I would talk about Christian, which would be a lot, Edward would shift uneasily. Alice would send him death glares afterward though. I asked Mom about it and she said she didn't know what I was talking about. I feel like they know something about Christian and they're not telling me. Whenever I would tell them about him, it seemed to me that they would listen reluctantly. Which was very odd. All my other crushes, they were highly interested in.

Also, whenever my family would pick me up from practice and I would be around Christian, they would look very uncomfortable. I still haven't figured it out yet. But what I find even odder is that my family hasn't said a word about how old is he. It seems like they don't care that he's a junior and I'm a freshman. Sometimes, when I'm telling a story, they even look at me sympathetically. I have a very weird family.

I get out of my bed, giving up on sleep, and walk down to the kitchen. Edward was in there, waiting for me.

"Heard you moving around, figured you couldn't sleep," he said as he handed me a glass of water.

"Is there anything you can't hear?" I asked as I gratefully took the cup. I had to squint up at him so that my eyes could get use to the light.

"Yes, your thoughts. Which is extremely frustrating right now, because I don't know what's keeping you up," he said thoughtfully. "Care to enlighten me?"

I jumped up and sat on the counter even though there were chairs right next to me. There were so many answers to the question he was asking. I decided to give the simplest answer. "I'm anxious about school starting two weeks. Conditioning isn't that bad, but school is different. In water polo, everyone is friends with everyone. We all have something in common. Well, the people who I'm going to go to school with, I'll have nothing in common with. So," I looked up at him. "What do I say to them? How will I introduce myself? How should I act, what do I wear? Should I act like a freshmen, or pretend I'm above all that. Should I start flirting with a guy, or would I be pinned as a slut? There are so many questions, and I don't know wear to find the answers. I feel like if I ask Lina or Amanda or Christian, they will laugh at me."

Edward just smiled at me and shook his head. He walked over to me and put his arms around me. Though the hug was cold, it was just what I needed. I relaxed in his stone embrace, and laid my head against his shoulder. He rubbed my back with one hand and patted down my hair with the other. I wrapped my legs around him and felt like I was going to cry. My eyes moistened, so I held on tighter, hoping his presence would make me more stable. He murmured in my ear, it's going to be okay, its fine, Bella, everything will be fine, over and over.

We sat there for I don't know how long. Finally, he lifted me up and carried me back to my room. He tucked me into my bed, where I eventually gained my composure. He sat on the edge of the bed, playing with my hand.

"Bella," he whispered. "Do you know what a charismatic person you are? Have you realized that everyone who meets you adores you? People are drawn to your personality, Bella. In two weeks, when you start high school, all you have to do is the easiest thing there is to do, being yourself. You have a lot of friends, and you know they will never let you down. If you meet a few people who don't like you, so what? Don't worry about what everyone thinks of you. Just know that your friends and family will always be there for you, no matter what." He pushed some hair away from my face and leaned in. Being so close to Edward made me feel so good. For that amount of time, I felt like all the stupid little worries of high school, Christian and my family were fixable. I felt like they were meaningless, even. Edward made everything else seem meaningless. "And I will be there, whenever and wherever you need me. Even if you don't need me, even if you don't even want me around, I'll be with you." I laughed at that one.

"I'll always need you, Edward. I'll always want you. Don't ever forget that. Even if it seems like I'm annoyed with you, I'm really not," I confessed. He smiled and kissed my forehead. "Can you just stay here tonight? Just sit next to while I sleep?"

I felt so embarrassed when I asked that. I don't know what made me do it, but my whole body felt the need for Edward's presence. When I'm around him, the whole world seems simpler. It was addicting, really. He looked confused, at first; like he didn't know what I was asking. But then, he smiled a very happy, very boyish smile. I automatically tagged that smile, as my most favorite smile.

"Sure, sure. Of course, if it helps you sleep better. Let me just go get my book," he said as he backed out of the room and ran to his room. I got comfortable in my bed until Edward walked back through the door. He sat up against the head board of my bed, and crossed his legs, completely relaxed. "Stop worrying about everything, Bella. Just have fun right now. You have years of worrying and stressing ahead of you. Just relax in the moment." I reached out and took his hand. Being next to Edward in my bed, helped me relax in the moment. In this moment with Edward.

As I fell asleep, I decided that Edward was my favorite person in the world, right now.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Bella, I'm not taking no for an answer," Alice said tersely as she started to pick up the clothes that I put back on the rack. We were clothes shopping for school. So far, Urban Outfitters has had a major portion of its inventory purchased by none other than, Alice Cullen. When we walked into American Apparel, I could only groan. All the guys were chilling out at a coffee shop nearby, pretending to drink coffee but actually gossiping about how much of a shopaholic Alice is.

"But Alice, I have a ton of clothes," I said as she handed me another stack to try on in the dressing room.

"It's all from last year, though." Alice threw over the top of the door, a sapphire blue figure skater dress.

"When am I ever going to wear this?" I mumbled. "I have a ton of clothes that you bought me over the summer," I complained. I liked my old clothes. I knew Alice wanted to throw them out, but I know which pair of jeans work best with which halter top, and which pair of jean shorts look good with which short sleeved shirt.

"Bella," Alice said sternly. I came out of the dressing room, wearing a blue double-breasted cardigan over a white and gray racerback tank. I felt really stupid after Alice tucked it into my silver jean shorts. "You are going into high school, tomorrow. People in high school do not wear the same thing at the people in middle school. I would know; I've been to high school many many times. Do you want to crash and burn and become an isolated outcast in high school? Do you want to be a friendless loner?"

"No, I guess not," I mumbled, stumped. I guess she was right.

"Good, then stop arguing with me." Alice turned me around to face the mirror. My outfit did look pretty cool. "This is your first day of school outfit."

I smiled. "Definitely."

Alice seemed really happy that I was satisfied. "Okay, go change. I need to pick out a few more things," She said as she pushed me back into the dressing room.

"Alice," I moaned.

"Who said they were for you?" Alice asked, pretending to be offended.

When I came out of the dressing room, Alice was waiting for me at the register. In the pile of clothes on the counter I could pick out a red high-waisted skirt, a light charcoal schoolgirl skirt, a gray circle scarf, a gray wool peacoat, a khaki and navy fleece hoody, a forest green and sea blue zip hoody, and a pair of black high waisted skinny jeans with red suspenders. She must be crazy if she thinks I'm going to wear those.

Alice handed over her black credit card and waited patiently as the guy folded all the clothing and put it into a bag.

"Okay, now onto Abercrombie," Alice stated.

"Do you really need me there, Alice?" I pleaded with her. "I'm just a bother. Just buy whatever you want. I'll sit with the boys." We were walking towards the Coffee Bean where the boys were at. Instead of waiting for her answer, I just walked inside.

"Bella, just take these bags first," she said as she handed me the Urban Outfitters and American Apparel bags. I took them and almost fell under their weight. Of course to Alice, this was nothing.

"Hey, Bella. Did you have fun?" Emmett asked with that stupid grin. I dumped all of the six bags on his lap.

"What do you think?" I asked. Edward picked up a medium hazelnut ice blended from the counter and silently handed it to me. How did he know me so well? "I've taken off my clothes so many times, the last time I couldn't remember which were my clothes and which were the ones I was trying on. And Alice does not take no for an answer. You should see the things she's buying for me."

"Like what?" Jasper asked.

"In Victoria's Secret she bought me a beaded thong. She said it's for my future boyfriend," I said as I casually took a sip.

"Bella? Can I see that Victoria's Secret bag?" Jasper asked me. I handed it to him. He got up and threw it into the trash.

"Hey, my new black lace bra was in there too!" I protested.

"Well, you don't need that either, so everything's fine," Emmett said with a satisfied smile.

"Alice is going to kill you," I threatened Jasper and Emmett. Jasper paled and Emmett just scoffed. "Oh, you guys, do you want to see my first day of school outfit?"

"Oh wonderful, who let her in? I thought this was supposed to be male bonding time," Emmett commented.

I pulled out my top, then cardigan and then shorts. "Bella, those shorts look too small, are you sure they fit you?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah, they fit perfectly in the dressing room," I told them. Were they saying I'm fat?

"These are really small, you need to eat more," Emmett said. Coming from him, I laughed. Of course all of my clothes would look really small to Emmett.

"That's the last thing I need to do," I told them. "I am definitely not going to be fat for my first day of school." All the guys roll their eyes. "What? I have a lot of fat."

_No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! Why does my mom have to do this? Why does she have to be so interested in my life? _

Alice knocked on my door. "Here you go," she said as she handed me a Marc Jacobs lilac garden popline dress. It looked hideous. Alice must have seen my face because she sighed and handed me another dress. "I knew you wouldn't like that one, so I bought another one." In the other hand she gave me a Stella McCartney cropped twill jacket with a white trim. I looked back the dress's label, Joie. Hm, never heard of that one. Considering its Alice, that means that the dress is probably really expensive.

I looked over at Alice's Jay Godfrey's black and white floral print dress. The skirt looked sheer and lacey. I had some weird urge to feel it. She walked effortlessly around in Jimmy Choo black sling back peep toe pumps. Esme came in and turned on the flat iron. She mentioned something at breakfast about straight hair looking perfect with my dress. Of course with her simple Diesel light gray and dark gray v-neck dress, she didn't need to do her hair for her dress. She looked radiant without evening having to touch her hair. Me, on the other hand, can scare small children when I wake and have a severe case of bed head.

After Mom and Alice fixed my hair, I was starving. I didn't have my dress on or my makeup done yet but I thought I deserved a break. I saw Rosalie in the kitchen fixing some bowls of chips. She looked stunning. She had on a Gypsy v-neck very light blue ankle-length dress. I always envied women who were tall enough to pull off the very long dress look. It swishes around her ankles when click-clacked across the wood floor in her gold sandals. It reminded me of the ocean.

"So, are you excited?" she asked me. She reached up to make sure her hair was still intact. It was. Her hair had been pinned up in a sloppy bun with a few wisps of blonde hair framing her flawless face. Her silver hoop earring matched perfectly with the thin line of gray eyeliner she applied on her upper lids.

"For what? My humiliation?" When my mom came to pick me up this morning on the last day of practice, she started talking to Coach Davis while I was showering. I didn't think much of it, except that my mom was probably the only mom to actually wait for her daughter to get out of practice. So when I walked over to them to announce that I was ready to leave, I was informed of an event. Apparently, we were holding an end of the summer barbeque that night. She had invited my coaches and everyone on the water polo team. I stared at her, shocked.

"I don't remember hearing about this," I argued with her.

"Oh, Bella, I told you last night, remember. And Alice has been working all morning to get things prepared," my mom reasoned. It was an end of the summer barbeque. She invited my water polo team, because we could swim while the adults mingled and danced. They would all stay in the gazebo which was only about thirty yards from the pool.

So before everyone left, Coach Davis made it a requirement for all the players to go. I'm pretty sure he did this to just annoy me. He liked teasing me, pushing me into the pool, or just joking with me. Unfortunately, everyone seemed very enthusiastic about this party. I assured them that it would be boring, of course, but they said that they were planning a bonding event already and now this was just a convenience. Wonderful.

"Everything is going to be fine, Bella," Rosalie assured me. She smiled slyly. "You're going to have fun, Alice confirmed it." As I bit into my apple thoughtfully, Rosalie turned around, picked up the bowls of chip and a tray of vegetables and headed outside. "You should get dressed, Bella. People are going to start to arrive soon." At that moment, Alice called down the stairs, "BELLA! Get your butt up here. I still need to do your makeup." I sighed and trudged up the stairs. It was one thirty, the party was supposed to start at two, and end around eight. I had no idea what people would do during those six hours. Our house wasn't very fun.

"Bella, stop fussing," Alice said as she tried to get me to relax. I was nervous. I sat there, letting Alice work her magic, and couldn't help but think of all the possible outcomes of this evening. Christian had to do with many of these scenarios. I could see Christian, bored out of his mind, and wanting to leave. I also saw Christian, weirded out by my family, or my family's friends, and then never speaking to me again. But on the other side, I envisioned Christian being totally romantic, and then confessing his undying love to me as he walked through the door. That was the most unlikely one.

I opened my eyes to the made-by-Alice Bella. She had thin black eyeliner perfectly applied on her eyelids, with an even complexion. Alice had traced the black eyeliner with silver sparkly eyeliner. Then a dab of gray eye shadow on the edges of my eyes made eyes look like they had depth inside of just my plain brown eyes. Alice forced me to look up as she traced my eyelashes with the Dior Diorshow Blackout mascara wand. She rubbed some Rosebud Salve on my lips and smiled in satisfaction.

"Perfect," Alice complimented. "Let me just brush your hair one more time, and now we can put on your dress." She said as she walked over to where I laid it on my bed.

"Wait," I told her. "I need to put on my bikini first." Alice rolled her eyes. We had just finished arguing about whether or not to wear my suit on under my dress. I wanted to so that I didn't have to waste anytime getting in the pool, where I really belonged. But Alice thought that the bikini straps would not looked pleasant with my dress. Also, she said, the panty lines will be embarrassing. But I really didn't care. I would spend as little time as possible in that dress. I would say hi to all my family friends and then go off with my friends, swimming.

Alice tied the straps to my all white bikini. Alice forbade me to wear a colored bikini that might show through my Joie dress. She said that it would ruin the entire romantic mood of the dress if there were hot pink bikini straps showing through. And the dress did have a romantic quality. It was a vintage cotton short summer dress. It was A-line shaped, with adorable red roses lightly displayed on the smooth bottom and the ruffled top. I loved it. I smiled brightly, and hugged it to my chest.

"I knew you would love it," Alice laughed. "I also knew that you wouldn't love these. But too bad," she said, laughing still. My smile fell when I saw the three inch leather strapped open toe pumps. They were beautiful, no doubt, but I knew that I wouldn't be beautiful when I fell on my face. But the heel was thick, and the straps looked pretty secure, so I didn't worry too much.

I strapped them to feet, just as Alice left to go answer the door. I stayed in my room looking out my balcony window, waiting for my friends to arrive. I don't want to have to spend any more time than necessary downstairs. Finally, though, after ten minutes of reading my current book, I saw Christian's car, Lina's car, Amanda's car, Cassandra's car, and two other cars I didn't recognize. But I identified Coach Davis as one of the drivers. All the cars were carrying a few people. Not too much, though, thank God. I didn't want my humiliation to reach farther than my immediate friends.

I opened my door and was about to turn to the main stairwell to meet my guests, when I bumped into Edward. He was dressed nicely in long khaki pants, which I might add, showed off his amazing butt. I instantly blushed. I can't believe I just thought that about my brother! He smoothed down his white Lacoste short sleeved polo. Edward usually dressed in jeans and whatever shirt happened to be lying around. This was weird.

"Alice?" I asked, knowingly.

"Partly. You?" He said raising his eyebrows at my heels.

"Of course. But I got to keep my bikini, for later." I smiled triumphantly. His bronze hair was messy as always, but this time there was gel, like he was trying to make an attempt at fixing it, and then gave up. It didn't matter; I liked it messy better anyway.

"Do you want help going down the stairs? So you don't fall in front of your guests?" He asked, holding out an arm.

"You know, sometimes I think you're just lying about the whole not-being-able-to-read-my-mind thing." I said as I gratefully took his right arm and we walked toward the stairs that faced the two door entrance to our house.

"No, I just know you so well," Edward said. I laughed as we walked down the first few steps. I kept my head down, looking at my feet while laughing, so I didn't see all my friends in the foyer. I felt Edward stiffen beside me, and held onto his wonderful-smelling arm, tighter. Finally, I looked up to look straight into Christian's covered eyes. I could still faintly make out the shake of his eyes behind his Ray-Ban Aviator shades.

"Edward, these are my water polo friends, friends, this is Edward," I announced. I noticed Cassandra staring at him with ogling eyes. Oh, no.

"Hey,Edward," Scott piped up, confidently. He came over to slap my brother's hand like they've been friends forever.

"Hey, Scott. Haven't seen you in awhile." I let go of Edward's arm and kept staring at Christian. His gaze was magnetic. It made me forget about Edward, and the weird things I've been feelings towards him.

"Yeah, I know. I guess Bella doesn't want me around anymore." Scott trailed off, waiting formy response. I just stood there, not even processing what he said. "Right, Bella?" He said a little more loudly this time, to catch my attention.

"What? No, that's totally not true," I said as I was finally able to turn away from Christian May. Alexandra, Tally, Eileen, Camille, and Becky showed up right then. I led them all to my room, where they dropped of their swimming bags. We were planning on getting something to eat before swimming.

"Wow, this is a great room, Bella," Amanda said appreciatively. She laid down on my bed.

"Thanks," I responded. I was trying to lead them out of my room, so that my parents didn't think I was having my own party in my room.

"I'm in love with this bed," she announced. I looked over to Christian again. He was sitting in my desk chair looking at some pictures I had posted up on the corkboard. One was the picture that Scott liked, the one of Alice and I in the rain, on the street in front of our house. She was giving me a piggy-back ride, while we were wearing matching outfits; yellow and pink rain boots, black skinny jeans, and sweatshirts under a black peacoats. We both had our hair in braids, while I was holding a pink poka-dot umbrella. We were smiling like idiots, but having the most fun in the world.

"This is cute," Christian commented.

"Yeah, that was a fun day." I commented. He flipped to the next picture. It was of Edward holding me in his arms, while my hands were wrapped around his neck. I was crying, clinging onto him with all my might, while he looked down at me lovingly. "I have no idea what I was crying about."

"Must have been something important."

"Not really, I remember I use to cry about everything, and Edward was always there to comfort me."

The next picture was of Edward and me again, holding hands and walking through leaves. "First day of school," I informed him. Next was Emmett carrying me above his head to my room. "I hated going to sleep."

It was funny. The next three just happened to all be Edward and me together. Although, the fourth one was of me lying on Rosalie. I was either sitting on Edward's lap in the car, or him feeding me, or him and walking in a park.

"Looks like you're really close to Edward." Christian stated.

"I guess so. I just never noticed it."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

**a/n: Sorry, in the last chapter, I made a mistake. When I was typing it on Word, I made a break between the shopping clip and the party. But I guess when I uploaded it on it didn't show. So sorry if that was confusing to anyone. In addition to that, I wrote that this story took place the day before school started, which it still is. I didn't mean for it to be that way, but I don't want to go back and change the story. Again, sorry!**

**Anyway, I'm trying to get these chapters written faster. So hopefully I follow through. Also, thanks for the fabulous comments! I'm trying to improve my grammar and spelling, so I'm rereading my stories for mistakes with the hopes that they will be better written. **

**Keep reading! This story isn't over yet! **

"Okay, okay, stop bugging me. Just go," Carlisle said.

"Thanks, Dad," I kissed him on the cheek and ran off toward the kids table in the gazebo.

They looked up at me, expectantly. They were just finishing their dinner. "Want to go swim?" I asked. If they said no, all the nagging I've been doing to my family would have been wasted.

"Hell yeah," a guy said. I finally found out his name from Lina. Tyler, I heard. He hooked up with Amanda at a party one time. He was kind of cute. But he was also a senior, so I didn't expect him to like me. His blonde hair looked washed out and dead, probably from all the chlorine. He turned to the guy next to him. This guy I had never even seen before. He also had blonde hair but it looked like a survived the chlorine a little better than Tyler's hair had. He turned to face me and I saw he had the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen. They were the color of the ocean, truly captivating.

_Not again, Bella, _I told myself. I was already pining over Christian and crushing on over half the guys on the team, what am I going to do when school starts? I had to remind myself not to get attracted to him, or else it would be another guy to complain to Edward about, and another person to think about before I go to sleep at night.

"What do you think, Vladimir?" Tyler asked him. Vladimir had a perfectly chiseled jaw and moved with ease. He was practically the exact opposite of Christian. He had tanned skin and soft blonde hair, while Christian was more dark and brooding.

"Um, sure, I guess," he responded. His voice was deep, which made his age even more bewildering. Vladimir seemed like such an old fashioned name, but really sexy. He stood up and I watched him walk with the others. He seemed to be isolated from the pack, either he was shy or they didn't like or know him.

I ran up to Tyler, and started walking next to him, leading the way. "Who is Vladimir?" I asked him.

He rubbed the light brown stubble on him chin and took a look at Vladimir. "Sorry I didn't ask you before bringing him here, but he's new in town. He's my new neighbor and my mom wanted me to show him around. He's really not that bad. I should have called first though," he looked at me.

"Oh no problem. What grade is he?" I asked casually. If he was a senior or junior, I would be majorly crushed.

"A freshman," he responded. My eyes widened.

"He doesn't look like a freshman," I commented. He walked with his spine perfectly vertical and iPod earbuds in his ears. I really wanted to talk to him. His personality seemed so intense.

"Apparently, he's from Russia. In his last school, they had a hardcore water polo team. So I suggested that he come here today to meet some of the team before he tried out. Just so you know, he asked about you a few times." Tyler winked at me. I reddened.

This was the first time I had ever really talked to Tyler. It seemed weird that he was suddenly so aware of my love life, which happened to be being in love with at least four guys.

"Does anyone need to change?" I called out.

"Yeah, I do," Vladimir said. He raised his hand and looked at me straight in the eye. I turned to see Christian studying me hauntingly.

"Okay, follow me." I lead the way to my bathroom, while everyone else waited for me in the pool house. I could feel Vladimir's eyes on my back, and it made me feel reassured. Almost like his gaze encouraged me. I opened the door to my room, and headed towards the bathroom. Vladimir stopped.

"This way," I said as I turned around to see why he had stopped. He stood, fixated, in front of my bookshelf. I walked over to him. I turned my head, and stared at his profile. After a minute, he must have felt my gaze, because he turned his head to look at me, and smiled. And damn, was it a good smile. A million images fabricated itself into my head of us, kissing. Even more scenarios of us going further.

"You keep staring at me." He stated. He looked back at the bookshelf. "I've read most of these books. Well, except this one." He pulled out Gossip Girl. I laughed.

"Oh, my sister insisted I read something more modern. Actually," I smiled slyly as I took the book from him. "This book is very informative."

"Oh really? How so?" He asked with a teasing smile. Oh, he is so cute! I just want to run my fingers over his lips, and then run my hands through his hair. I imagined myself kissing him passionately outside of his class, I imagined him hanging out with my friends, laughing with them, while I stared at him with awe. I imagined us together at movies, driving in a car, making out in a car, and us at parties, just laughing on a couch. Soon, I was started wishing that he would lie next to me on the bed, that he wrap his arm around me and bring me closer. I wanted to take off his clothes, and feel him everywhere. I don't know why, but I just felt so attracted to him.

"Chapter two, one hour of sex burns 360 calories," I read out loud. "See? Very informative." I don't know what made me read from that particular section.

"Well, I have no idea how I went through life without knowing that." His eyes twinkled. "Well, I should get this suit on." I looked down to his hands. He held swim trunks. My face fell.

"You're not wearing a Speedo?" I asked him.

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you wearing a Speedo?"

"No, but girl swimsuits are very unflattering. Speedos are fine." I tried to convince him.

"Yeah, sure. You just want to see me without any clothes on, Cullen." I blushed furiously. How was he so intuitive? His perceptiveness made me wonder if my little fantasies were written across my face. "It's okay. I'm actually quite honored that a fine young lady such as yourself would be having sexual inquiries about a rough young brute, corresponding to yours truly, of course."

"Who said they were sexual thoughts?" I asked nervously.

"The redness in your cheeks say so," he pronounced. I was so embarrassed. I needed some time to recollect myself; I felt so exposed. This is probably how I would feel if Edward could actually read my mind; vulnerable.

"Vladimir," I said firmly. "Go change." I opened the door to my connecting bathroom. As he walked in, he bowed dramatically in an arrogant, cocky way, keeping his eyes locked with mine. I laughed. He was just so gorgeous.

I closed the door and walked over to my bed. I unstrapped my heels and took out a pair of flip flops. I looked in my closet for a sun dress to throw on over my suit that I was already wearing. I started to pull off my dress and then heard the door click open.

"Whoa, didn't know I was getting a personal show," Vladimir commented as he took in my curves. I blushed and quickly threw my sun dress on. I knew I would just take it off again when we get to the pool, but at least it would be in a less intimate situation.

"You're not," I said briskly. He was wearing black swim trunks and a white v-neck. He went to lie on my bed, facing the window that displayed the vast acres of forest. I just now realized that he was the second guy to lie on my bed in one day. When I go to bed tonight, that will be all I'm thinking about. He looked so relaxed and unhindered. His sprawled body seemed so inviting. I walked over to my bed and sat down on my knees. He was still staring out the window.

What happened next was seriously out of my will. I don't know what made me do it. You know in movies, where the actor/actress does something spontaneous and always say I don't know what came over me? Well, this is an exact instance. Blame it on my recent supply of sexual fantasies, on how inviting his sprawled body looked, on how teasing and funny he was, or on how physically and mentally attracted to him I was, but I was in control of my actions, no matter my excuses, and all I wanted to do then, was touch him.

I leaned over him and without thinking, dropped my head down to kiss him. I caught him by surprise, but he was oh so willing. Since I had come down while he was lying on his side, he had to shift so that he was lying on his back. I had one hand gripping his shirt with the other arm holding me up. I wanted to press my weight against him so badly, so I did. He opened his mouth wide, so I had free access to do whatever I wanted. We kissed slowly.

The feeling of his tongue intertwined with mine, of his hand tangled in my hair, of his other hand on my thigh, and of his smooth chest underneath my hand, made this moment so intense. The pent up lure I had for him incorporated me to bend over him, with my knees on either side of his waist, and caress his face as I deepened the kiss even further.

I moved my hands to the bottom of his shirt. I hiked it up a little, not even caring how forward I was being. I pushed my hands under the shirt; pulling it up even further and stroked his hard abs. I gripped his pecs and pressed my fingertips against his chest. I brushed over his nipples and moved my hands to trace his happy trail down to his trunks and then stopped. I heard an undistinguishable sound that felt like it had come low, in the back of his throat. It was so sexy. I became so aware of Vladimir, being a guy, and having a penis. I had never really thought of it whenever I hung out with my guy friends, or really, whenever I had hung out with Scott. This predicament felt so intimate, almost like me feeling him up. I kept one hand under his shirt, on his waist, and returned the other one to his neck.

I guess he must have taken that as an invitation for him to explore me. He ran his hands over my waist and stomach. He gripped my hips tightly, right above my bikini bottom. He pressed his thumbs into the concave between my hip bones. That area felt so sensitive to his touch. I let out a deep sigh against his lips. I couldn't believe I had done that. Every time I had been with Scott I had made him sigh, but never did I feel this attraction with him. He smiled against my lips and moved his hands to encompass my rib cage.

I broke off. I widened my eyes in surprise at what had happened. This wasn't me. Hooking up with a guy I didn't even know wasn't me. Scott and I had only made it to him feeling me up after two months, and I had a feeling Vladimir and I could have gone even further than that, if I hadn't sobered up from his addictive lips. I thought about if I heard the story of this happening to another girl, I would have deemed her as a slut. I couldn't do this. How could I just forget about Christian? I had convinced myself that I was in love with him. Obviously, this was not so. Vladimir made Christian seem trivial; Christian and I, always talking and flirting with each other, but never actually doing anything.

I realized that I was still sitting open legged on Vladimir's waist. Probably not the most appropriate position but I refused to move. I wiped off some spit on my lips. I didn't know if it was mine or his. I got shivers down my spine when I thought of me wiping this super hot guy's spit off my mouth. How sexy does that sound? And then to look down at him licking his now bright red lips, with his smoldering expression. Right in that moment I knew he had wanted me just as badly as I had wanted him. And damn, was it good. Having his hands resting on my thighs, which were now exposed from my dress riding up, made me feel like all I wanted to do was take off my clothes. But no, I needed to stop.

"Wow, do you always say hello to new friends like that?" He asked breathlessly.

"No, I'm sorry. This was a mistake. A huge mistake. I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry. I don't usually act like this. I just…" I started rambling. I stopped when I saw that he just wore an amused smile, and figured that the best thing I could do right now was pretend this never happened. It will be so hard, pretending that my body isn't crazy attracted to his, or that the way his lips moved against mine wasn't hypnotizing. "We should go back down. They're waiting for us."

"Bella," he said slowly while grinning, "you sitting on me like this, is not helping my hard on right now."

I turned so red. "Right," I said as I got off of him. The absence of his hands I think, actually, made my body yearn for him even more. I wanted him to touch me more. I wanted him to take off my dress, and eventually my bikini. I stood up and fixed my dress, while Vladimir smoothed out his shirt. I felt so embarrassed for haphazardly screwing it up. It made me seem desperate, but then again, he hadn't hesitated to rumple my dress.

Vladimir shifted uncomfortably on my bed. I looked down to his swim trunks to see a lateral bump against his right thigh. I remember when the couple times Scott got a boner. I felt so bad. He seemed really embarrassed. When I asked him if there was anything I should do to make it go back down, he answered shortly, nothing. Looking back now, I realized he probably wanted me to actually do something for him. Thank God I hadn't. That kind of stuff would have made the break up even harder than it had been.

One thing I knew Scott always wanted was something cold. That what he always put on it. Emmett kept a freezer in his room with ice for the various body parts that had ever been torn from his body. Vampires don't die if they get a limb torn from their body, they just re-grow it. For some reason, it always fascinated Emmett to look at him old fingers, arms, toes, feet, etc. I guess his, Edward's, and Jasper's fights would get pretty serious.

"I'll be back in a second," I told Vladimir. He looked terrified of being left, blue balled, in my room without me. I ran to Emmetts room, grabbed a couple of pieces of ice and dropped them into a Ziploc. I ran back to Vladimir, to see that he hadn't even moved. Well, except to run his hands through his hair.

"For your…situation," I stated as I handed him the bag of ice.

He actually smiled. "Do you blue ball all of the guys you hook up with?" he asked me and he started to untie his shorts. I forced myself to look up to his face, and not where he was placing the bag of ice. He winced and sucked in air. I felt so bad for him. If I had just controlled myself, this would have never happened. He gripped my comforter tightly until the initial shock was over.

"You're only the second guy I've ever kissed. I told you, I don't spontaneously hook up with guys," I informed him. My eyes strayed down to where his hand was in his pants, equally distributed the coldness of the ice to each part of his penis. I wanted to feel him all over again, it actually hurt. I dragged my eyes back up to his fierce blue ones. He was looking at me unbelievingly.

"If you keep staring at my dick like that, this hard on will never go away," he warned. When he saw how embarrassed I looked he relented. "I mean, I know I'm pretty purdy and all." He looked up at me and fluttered his eyelashes. And to think, I use to actually believe that he was shy. He was now the bluntest person I knew. "Okay, I think it's back to normal size. Because someone just loves to tease people…" he trailed off suggestively, and then looked up to smile at me.

I laughed and got up off of my bed. "We should go back down."

"Not before you fix your hair. I personally like it though. It's pretty hot, but everyone else might wonder about the new hair style, and I'm guessing we are keeping this secret," he said. I turned to the mirror and gasped. On the right side of my head the hair lifted to make it seem like I was growing another head.

"Yeah, I guess," I told him. I still didn't know if I wanted to go out with him yet. "Better?" I asked him as I pointedly looked down.

"Yeah, definitely." He started to pull his hand out and looked back at me. I suddenly realized that I was staring again, waiting for that little glimpse when he would tie up his short again. "You want to see my dick, don't you?" He smiled. His smile was so beautiful. And his eyes twinkled, as I now realized, whenever he was amused.

"No," I said quickly, even though I was curious.

"You know," he said thoughtfully. I held my breath. He made it seem like such a big hassle for him. I couldn't believe this. "I would show you, but," I'm sure my smile turned to a frown after hearing the word, but. "This ice is making my dick shrink, and after this entire episode, it would be a gigantic blow to my ego if you called me small." He held up the bag of melted ice for me to take. While we were talking, he must have taken his hand out when I hadn't noticed. Stealthy.

I took the bag, and tried not to think about where it had been. He got up off the bed, patted down his hair that I had messed up and rubbed his balls.

Without saying a word, I opened the door for us and we headed downstairs. We turned left to head to the pool house. I had my hand on the knob and was about to open it when Vladimir murmured, wait, low in my ear. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in close.

"I won't mention to anyone about what happened in your room, but I want you to know that I want you, whenever and wherever." He kissed my neck.

"Vladimir," I breathed.

"Just think about it, Bella," he said. He released me from his grip and took a step back. I opened the door to see everyone already in the pool. Laughing and having fun. They didn't miss me, or Vladimir. If I was quick, I could shut the door and hope that no one saw me and run back upstairs with him. Just us sitting next to each other would satisfy me.

"Bella! Get in here," Alexandra called out. It looked like she was having fun with some sophomore on the team. There goes being unnoticed.

"Coming," I called out. I pulled my dress over my head and turned to look at Vladimir. He was staring at me appreciatively. I walked slowly over to him.

"So, who's staring now?" I whispered to him. To everyone else, it probably just looked like we were having a little chat about the weather, but I knew it was a more intimate exchange. Vladimir smiled. "Want to see it? Want to see it? Too bad." I laughed at my mocked expression of him.

"Better watch that attitude. My hand might accidently pull that bikini string," he smiled as he took off his shirt.

Not wanting him to catch me looking at his chest, unexposed, I ran to the diving board that Jasper helped me lower. "Coming?" I called out as I ran across the diving board, took a big jump and dived in. Jasper also raised the board a little over its normal height so that our jumps would be bigger. The water hit me, refreshing and cool. But also freezing.

"Holy fuck, this water is so cold," I said through shaking teeth. I ran out of the pool, dripping water everywhere, and went to the thermometer gage. "Why didn't anyone turn this up?" The temperature read 58 degree (Fahrenheit). I cranked it to about 88. A little bit warmer than the average water polo temperature. Right next to the temperature gage was the stereo system. I hooked up my iPod and started my pool party playlist. It started off with "West Coast" by Coconut Records. I turned up the volume and started singing. I jumped back into the water which was still a little cold.

Throughout the party, I felt detached from the festivities. Once in a while I would catch Vladimir's eye and we would share a secret smile. But I was still so confused about whether or not I should go out with him. Is it right to start a relationship like that? A random hook up? I didn't even know his last name. Is he even going to my school tomorrow? I had no idea. But what I did know was that Vladimir kept me wanting more.

**Author's note: Okay this chapter was a little graphic, but probably my favorite chapter so far. **

**Before I go on, I just wanted to know something. Would it be terribly terrible for Bella to not end up with Edward? I know Bella and Edward are the most perfect couple ever, but I'm having so much fun writing about these guys, and I can make the story a lot more interesting if I just make up the story as I go along, and not having to end with Bella and Edward being together. PLEASE review the chapter with your answer!**

**And it does seem kind of weird that Bella would fall in love with her brother…**

**BUT, I can keep going, and then have Bella and Edward get together, if it's what everyone wants. **


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

**OKAY, I HAVE A SOLUTION! (For the BXE question)**

**I just won't tell you yet…**

Alexandra just left, my last guest. My family's guests were still hanging around talking. I wanted them to leave so I could talk to Edward or Alice about Vladimir. They were the only ones that would understand. I stood in the kitchen with my towel wrapped around my wet bikini, while waiting for one of my siblings to walk in. After a few minutes, I heard some footsteps. I peeked around the corner, and there was Edward.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" I asked him quietly. I pulled him by the arm to the table.

"Is this about Vladimir?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeah," I said, in a low voice. I still can't believe that I did that. I also can't believe that I didn't even get a chance to say good bye to him, or get his number, or anything. I couldn't find him on Facebook or Twitter, and that's when I started to panic. I considered calling around to find Tyler's number, and then ask him for Vladimir's, but that sounded too stalkerisque.

"Bella, did you go any further than kissing?" He asked me, seriously.

"No! Of course not, couldn't you hear?" I asked him.

"It was pretty far away, and I could only hear what you two were saying…" he trailed off and gave me an amused look. I turned my head to look out the window, trying to conceal my deep red blush.

"Is everyone appalled?" I asked, ashamed.

"No, Bella, it's okay. You're a teenager, and we trust you. We just like to know what's going on, so that we know that we can keep trusting you," he said sincerely. I turned to him and he wrapped his arms around me. "We all make stupid decisions sometimes."

I pulled away. "You think it was a stupid thing to do?" I asked him, a little hurt.

"I just don't think it was one of the smartest things you've ever done, but we know it's not your fault," he said as he pushed some hair from my face.

"But, I really like him, Edward. He's just so interesting, so wonderful. I just felt like we had a deep connection," I unveiled as I smiled a wide goofy grin. But when I look up at his amber eyes, I saw a pitying look.

"Bella," he said slowly. He looked like he was in pain, like he was telling me something that he knew would upset me. "The thing about Vladimir is," he started. He turned away. My happy mood suddenly slipped away.

"What Edward?" I asked him fiercely. He has always told me the truth. But never has he looked so reluctant to do so. "What's the thing about Vladimir?"

"I'm sorry, Bella. We weren't planning on telling you, but," he was just about to finish his sentence when Emmett came running into the kitchen.

"Edward," Emmett said briskly. "We need you outside."

I pointed at Emmett. "You know too, don't you? Tell me! Tell me what's up with Vladimir," I told Emmett. I couldn't fathom why my family would keep something from me. Especially something about Vladimir. How did they even know him? They have no idea what they're talking about.

"Bella," Emmett said in a stern voice. He held onto my arm. "Not right now. We have company; we'll talk about this later."

Hot tears began to cloud my vision. I looked at Emmett and back to Edward. Edward looked at my sympathetically, but I just stared back maliciously. They were treating me like a child who was misbehaving in public. And like an other child when they hear that, they want to make an even bigger scene.

"Tell me," I said low and harshly.

"Later, Bella." Emmett responded softly and calm.

"I want Mom. Mom!" I screamed. A tear escaped from my eye. Esme would tell me, she would convince me that Emmett and Edward were overreacting and that there was nothing going on. I had no idea what they were hiding, but I had a feeling it was big.

"Mom!" I screamed again. This time more tears came down my face. Edward turned away and walked out of the house, with his head down. Emmett just sat on a chair, with his head in his hands.

"Come here Bella," Esme came towards me with her arms spread. She murmured condolences that only stopped the tears, but the sick feeling in my stomach that everything was wrong. Not once did she tell me that they were making up things. She knew the secret too, and I could tell she wasn't going to tell me either.

She ran her fingers through my wet hair and was saying something to Emmett that I couldn't hear. "Bella?" She looked down at me. "I want you to go upstairs and take a nice, hot shower. Afterwards, we can discuss this. Everyone is leaving right now, so we will clean up the house and then meet you in the living room. Okay?" She explained this smoothly and calmly. I nodded and she carried me to the bathroom and started the water.

Just as she was leaving, she told me that Edward had left to do some errands, and that he would be back late.

While standing in the shower, that was the one bit of information that I was most upset by. Edward left. He didn't want to deal with me. He didn't care. I needed him and he left. This was bullshit. I angrily knocked down the shower ledge. I knew I would have to pick it back up later, but right now, it made me feel a lot better, breaking things. Obviously, it would get me nowhere, but at least my family would hear how angry I was with them. The tears flowed again, as I realized that it didn't matter. They already knew I was upset, what I wanted was for Edward to hear I was upset. Upset with him for keeping this from me. And for some reason, it hurt so much more thinking of Edward keeping this secret from me rather than any other family member.

I put on my pajamas, debating whether or not to go downstairs. I could just stay up here all night, and not have to deal with this. I would also get more sleep, so I could as well-rested as possible for my first day of school tomorrow.

Although this thought was extremely tempting, I knew that I was wrong. I would still have to deal with this, if not tonight then tomorrow morning, or tomorrow night. I wouldn't get more sleep because I had already decided in the shower that I would stay up and wait for Edward, so I could give him a piece of my mind, while I was still in my foul mood. And when I finally go to bed, I would stay up all night, thinking about Vladimir, about what I did and didn't know about him.

So I made my way downstairs to face what my family had to tell me. If only Edward were here.

**This is short, but I'm already working on the next chapter. It should be up soon. You'll find out later on if Bella and Edward will be together. I don't want to tell you yet…**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

**A/N: Hey. I finally got this up. What happened was, I finished most of it, but couldn't find an ending that would fit. So, time was necessary. So sorry. **

**But no worries, all of the questions that you have asked me, are answered in this chapter. It is definitely a turning point in this extensive story. Have fun!**

I sat down at the head of the table, exactly opposite from Carlisle, and stared at my family, expectantly. What was it that could possibly be so important, that it would have to involve everyone? I turned to my right, where Edward's empty chair stared at me. It made my stomach drop, like whenever I had a dream of walking and then randomly falling. I always startled awake and had to breathe heavily to assure myself that it didn't actually happen; that I was, still, safely in my bed, across the hall from Edward. Right now, I felt like I was walking along that path, about to drop.

"Bella," Carlisle began. "We weren't planning on telling you this. We only had the best of intentions in mind." Already, I started becoming upset. If they had my best of intentions in mind, then they would have told me, I reasoned. "As you know, we try to keep your life as normal as possible. We want you to be a normal teenage girl, one who doesn't have to worry about vampires."

I was still confused. I didn't speak. I just stared at Carlisle, waiting.

"The information we kept from you, isn't really so much about Vladimir," he began, I held my breath. So it wasn't really about Vladimir. But then how did he come into all of this?

"As it is about Christian."

…………………………………………………

"What?" I said softly, confused. Now they were bringing Christian into this?

"Christian is a vampire," Emmett told me. They waited for my reaction.

"What?" I remember all the times I had spent with Christian. Hanging out in his car, swimming together in practice, eating with everyone at someone's house, or just sitting on the swings in an abandoned playground we all hung out at once.

But the pieces started to come together. I think that's why my family just sat there, quiet. They were waiting for me to accept it. But I didn't want to. The one normalcy in my life, turned out not to be normal at all. Christian, who I thought was gifted and extraordinary, in the pool and out, was just a vampire. A vampire, who are extraordinary no matter what. I felt so stupid that I didn't figure it out before.

Of course, the amber eyes. Why hadn't I realized this before? Because I human, and stupid. They had known, though. My family probably had known since the first time they saw him. Every time I talked about him, they all knew. They knew that I had no chance with him, that I was just blinded by his beauty and couldn't figure out what was really beneath the surface. They knew this and didn't bother to tell me.

"Bella," Carlisle said in a warning tone. "Listen. You haven't heard the rest. Christian is not a normal vampire. He has a special power. He can enhance sexual attraction between two people."

"Like cupid," Jasper clarified.

"What does this have to do with me?" I was still processing this information.

"Your…interaction," Carlisle looked at me. "With Vladimir was not completely from your own free will. Edward informed us that Christian was just testing you."

"Testing me for what?" I couldn't even comprehend that our hook up was completely false. Completely administered.

"He was interested in you. He just wanted to see if you were actually interested in him, or if you were just attracted to his looks. Once he saw that you were willing to be with Vladimir instead of him, he stopped the…err...the spell, I suppose." He looked at me with sympathy.

Wow, I had really have been played. "You guys knew this and still let me go along with it?" I asked in shock. "How could you not tell me this?" I asked them, rage laced my voice. I struggled to keep my composure and not break down crying. Crying wouldn't get me anywhere. Jasper started to, discreetly, reach toward me. I jerked, fiercely, to avoid his touch. I glared at his hurt expression. "Don't touch me. You think you can just alter my feelings? But then again, you alter everything else in my life to what you think is right! So I guess I'm not surprised," I added, spitefully.

"Bella, honey. We knew you be mad at us for getting in the way of you and Vladimir. All you knew, was that he was really into you. You would have hated us for doing that," Esme tried to explain.

"So what? So I would have thrown a fit and gotten mad, but I would have got over it. Instead, I was _humiliated_!"

"No on knew about it, Bella," Jasper said fruitlessly.

"You guys would have known. You all would have known that I was played, manipulated," I shouted at them. They just stared back at me, sympathetically. Alice and Esme dropped their heads. I was so angry. "You guys have _no idea _what I'm feeling. It's like realizing that one of your best experiences, one of your best memories, was a lie, and then to know that you guys knew what was happening and let it happen anyway. It just really, really…sucks," I explained. Hot tears clouded my vision. I pushed back my chair angrily, and walked out of the room.

I was about to storm up the stairs, but then decided to walk out the door. I took a deep breathe of the cool night air, and let out a glass-shattering scream. Afterwards, I felt much better.

I sat down on the ground, not caring about getting wet stains on the butt of my jeans. I was determined to wait up for Edward. I needed to give him a piece of my mind. The porch light stayed on for a few minutes, and then was emitted. I was engulfed in total darkness for a few minutes until someone turned the living room light on.

I listened to the forest noises. There were some random noises that were quite comforting, and then there were the noises that sounded low and menacing. It was quite chilly, and I started contemplating going back inside, at least for a jacket or blanket. But then I remembered my recent tantrum, and decided not to walk the walk of shame back into the warm house.

What would Edward say? I knew he would probably agree with them. I knew that they thought staying out of my life would be the best thing, but that's not always true.

But as I thought about it, I actually got madder, rather than relaxed. I always kept Edward in my life, and all of a sudden, he thinks that it would be best to stay out of it? How could he leave me again? Just like when he left me to the chicanery of Christian May. How many times had he seen me been played by Christian's charm? And then proceeded to say nothing?

I sat out there for about an hour, when I heard 'Bella' whispered through the darkness. I sat up and turned around to see Edward standing by the light of the living room.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked.

"What are you doing out here?" I retorted.

"I just went out to get some errands done," he stated simply and firmly, so much that I actually believed him for a second.

"Pretty convenient time to run some errands, don't you think?" My voice was harsh and accusing. "You're supposed to be here for me! And you weren't!" I yelled at him. Tears started running down my cheeks. My eyes burned, and I turned away so he wouldn't see me cry. But I turned around so he could see how upset I was with him. "Where were you that it was so much more important than me finding out that you all were lying to me, for months? How many times did you just sit there and just listen to me fawn over Christian, knowing that I was just being played? How many times did you think about telling me, and then just thought better of it and let me humiliate myself!?" I knew I was hysterical, but this has been what I had been thinking for the past hour, I was sitting here, waiting for him.

He was silent for a moment. "What would have I said, Bella? I didn't want to break your heart," he said, frustrated.

"Well, you did anyway."

"I didn't mean to, Bella. You were just so happy about Vladimir, and I knew that you would be devastated when he didn't talk to you, come tomorrow. If you think about it, Bella, it's better this way. I would rather have you sad, here, tonight, then sad, tomorrow, at school, when Vladimir will hardly remember anything, and Christian won't talk to you again," he confessed. He was so upset, I could tell. He was looking at me as if scared that I would be mad at him again. But I realized there was no use getting mad at Edward. And he was right, I would have been so embarrassed on my first day of school to go up to Vladimir and say yes, I want to be your girlfriend, and then have him ask who I was.

"So, now what?" I said. I smiled at the absurdity of it all, and then sat on the ground, with fresh tears streaming down my cheeks. This was just all so wrong. I was supposed to go to high school tomorrow, with Christian, who teased me and leaded me, and with Vladimir, who I would have probably agreed to date. I was supposed to be confident and secure, but now I was skittish and rubbed raw.

I pulled my legs up to my chest and leaned my head on my knees. I didn't hear Edward sit down, but soon he wrapped his stone cold arms around me. When he realized that he wasn't helping me keep warm from the icy night air, he ran inside, got a down comforter and returned to wrap it around my shoulders.

"Bella, everything will be fine, you'll see," he whispered. He crossed his legs and pulled me onto his lap, cradling me. I closed my eyes, as he smoothed my hair down, and wiped away my tears. "You don't need Christian or Vladimir, and they are definitely not good enough for you."

I cracked a smile. "See, there's Bella." Edward laughed. "Crying over boys? This is ludicrous!"

I giggled, a little ashamed. "Cute boys, in fact. I'm definitely being corrupted."

"Yes, you are. I think you should go back to school," Edward stated.

"Yes, school, where there are even more cute boys, I definitely need to go there," I laughed.

"Hmm…maybe not. How about home school?"

"How about no?" Edward's laughter filled the darkness around us. He made the forest seem less scary, and more mesmerizing. Edward made life more mesmerizing.

I just stared at how his lips opened carefully to let out his smooth voice, and how a tiny bit of sparkling white teeth showed. His Adam's apple bobbed, while his bronze hair sat, messy, on his head. Then he looked down, to catch me studying his face, I looked away quickly, embarrassed. But not before looking into his deep, gold eyes.

"You know, school tomorrow is going to be exciting," Edward finally said. He ran a finger down my cheek. His touch was light and soft.

"I know, and I wish you guys would reconsider coming. I really want you all to be there," I said. Carlisle decided that I would go through high school alone, as I would have done with a normal family. Also, he knew that I didn't want to be compared by peers to my beautiful siblings. But my want for them overcame my paranoia of people talking. High school wouldn't seem so scary if I had Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, and most importantly, Edward, walking beside me.

"Bella, we went through this. It will be fine. You have a lot of friends that won't let you down," he confirmed.

"What if I don't have a class with any of them, though?"

"Then, I know you won't hesitate to make new friends."

"Yes, I will. They are all older than me, and everyone will know each other."

"You know you're not the only freshman entering, right?" He raised his eyebrows and laughed again.

"Whatever. You better be there to take me to school and pick me up. You owe me," I pointed a finger at him, and waited for his response.

"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way," he said

"Good."

We sat in silence for a few more minutes. I started to drift off to sleep until I felt Edward carry me to my room. When he laid me on my bed, I clung to his shirt, and murmured, 'stay'. I was so exhausted that I couldn't remember if he said anything in response, but I knew he stayed, because I felt his body beside mine all night, and morning.

**A/N: Like it? The truth is finally out. I think you know by now who Bella is going to end up with. But not yet, freshman year is too premature. Keep reading. **


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

**Author's note: Sorry, I was on vacation. My mom said no computers so I had to wait till I was back home to write this. There's not much in this chapter but the next one will be her entire first day. **

I woke up and just laid in my bed, thinking about what happened last night. After a few minutes I decided that it wasn't worth dwelling on. I had to remind myself that my family only meant well, and that I could either hold it against them, and go through my first day of high school morose and angry, or I could forget it, and focus on a successful day.

With a smile, I decided to forget. I also decided that I should let my family know I was awake. I blasted House of Pain's 'Jump Around' and began screaming and jumping on my bed.

"I'm a freshmen! I'm a freshmen. Pack it up, pack it in. Let me begin. I came to win, battle me, that's a sin."

Alice, Rosalie, Edward, Emmett, and Jasper walked into my room shaking their heads.

"I guess she's over it," Jasper said.

"Bella! Get down from there." Alice said. "You need to get dressed."

"I don't want to get dressed. I want to go in my pajamas," I laughed. I was still jumping on the bed until Emmett came over and hoisted me on his shoulder.

"Drop her off in the shower," Rosalie yelled.

"No! Let me go!" I yelled while laughing and hitting his back.

I was thrown into the shower, but before Emmett left he turned on the shower, while I still had my clothes on. My pajamas got soaking wet, but I really didn't care.

I showered and then blow dried my hair till is was wavy and smooth. Well, okay, Rosalie blow dried it, but I helped.

I held the brush.

I wondered where Alice was until I walked into my bedroom to see it covered in clothes. I wasn't worried about the mess, I knew Esme would love to clean it up in a few seconds, I was mostly worried about Alice's sanity. She was going crazy.

"I just _can't _find the right outfit for the first day!" She said, highly frustrated, while sitting down in my walk-in closet, dejected.

Jasper tried comforting her, but she looked completely lost.

"What happened to the outfit we picked out yesterday?" I looked at Edward, who even looked a little scared. I walked across the room to stand by him, my only force of protection if Alice began to blame me for not being anymore fashionable.

"It was too boring. We need something that will _pop_ the first day. And it will rain today, so the shorts don't work. Goddamn fucking weather," she cursed. I had never heard her curse before; maybe Emmett, Rosalie, or Jasper, but never Alice, Edward or my parents.

"Maybe you should just let me pick out my outfit today. You know, for a change," I suggested, cautiously. I looked to Edward for confirmation but he just casually took a step away from me and began instantly fascinated with the ceiling.

"Bella! _Don't _even go there," she said, viciously, as she stared at me with black eyes.

I reached for Edward's arm.

"Alice?" Jasper cooed. "Alice. You'll think of something. We'll send Bella down to breakfast, while you work on her outfit. Is that alright? And I'll stay with you, I promise. Okay?" Jasper said, as he wrapped Alice to his chest. When she wasn't looking, he motioned for me to get out.

"You're coming with me," I hissed to Edward, while pulling the sleeve of his hunter green thermal shirt. "For protection."

Esme set out a feast for me. There chocolate pancakes and French toast. Every inch of the dining table was filled with bowls of fruits or yogurts. I hungrily reached for a pancake.

I had just inserted a large piece of pancake into my mouth when my mom started bombarding me with questions.

"So, do you know what you're wearing yet? Have you thought about Vladimir? Don't worry sweetie, I'm sure it won't be too hard today. At least you have your water polo friends, right? Are you going to have lunch with them? Or Alexandra, Camille, Tally, Becky and Eileen?"

I only bothered to answer the last question after I had swallowed the food in mouth. "Probably my middle school friends. I don't think Lina and Amanda want a freshman hanging around them all the time. I mean they're nice and everything, but I don't want to push myself on them," I explained before I took a sip of my orange juice.

"Oh, Bella, don't think like that. I'm sure they love your company," my mom said. She was always way too optimistic. It was nice sometimes, but this morning is just seemed overdramatic.

Once breakfast was done I began to cautiously walk back to my room, with Edward in tow, of course. I pressed my body against the wall, in a faux spy move. Edward just snickered.

"She's calmed down now," he informed me.

"Bella, I can hear your breathing. Come in here, you need to get dressed," Alice called from my room.

"You're coming with me," I hissed at Edward.

"No way, you're on your own," he said, holding up his hands in defense. His amber eyes looked playful and teasing. I really liked Edward when he and I would unite against our crazy family. I felt like sometimes it was us and them; us being Edward and I.

"Please, Edward," I pleaded with him. "Are you really gonna let Alice take advantage of a poor little girl like me?" I exaggerated the puppy dog eyes and looked up at him through my lashes.

"Fine, but if Alice asks for my opinion on _anything_ you so owe me," he said. I just smiled and grabbed his cold hand.

"Okay Bella, I've decided on these," she handed me a stack of clothes, with a satisfied look on her face. "I think you will really like it. Go change!" She said excitedly.

I gave Edward a nervous but complied and walked into my adjacent bathroom.

Whoa. I loved it. Really. It was so me. Simple and laid back. Jasper must have talked with Alice about letting me dress the way I want to. I had on dark wash J Brand jeans with black strappy sandals. The studded belt was a little too out there for my taste, but it looked good with the outfit so I didn't complain. My top consisted of a plain black wife beater which scrunched up around my stomach and so barely met the top of my jeans, and a long Coach necklace with a glass stones in different colors spread apart on a gold chain.

I opened the door slowly and stepped out. I stood shyly by the door as Alice squealed in happiness. I just smiled and said thanks.

"You do not look like a freshman in that outfit," Alice declared.

But I turned to Edward and twirled around. "Like it?"

"Yeah, it looks nice," and he abruptly walked out of the room. "Be ready in ten."

I pouted at Edward's lame response. "Don't worry about it, Bella. He just acts weird sometimes," Alice explained, as if _she's_ never acted weird before. Before I could say this, though, she sat me down on the bathroom ledge and told me to close my eyes.

"Not too much, Alice. I still have water polo practice today, and I don't want to have raccoon eyes," I said, warning her.

"I know, I know. Just a little," Alice said. It took her about a minute to smoothly apply some black eyeliner and mascara. "Here," she said and handed me a bottle of makeup remover.

"Thanks," I said. As Alice skipped back to her room, I went to go sit on my bed. I needed to mentally prepare myself for this day.

I was nervous. My stomach was turning. I wanted to make a good first impression. I was scared of being out casted. I was scared of having people laughing at me, or even ignoring me. I was naturally shy, so meeting new people is always tough. To top it off, I don't have any classes with my friends. I was taking significantly harder classes than them and so was put into a lot of classes with older kids. Another thing for me to worry about. How will I even survive those classes? I wasn't ready for Honors Physiology, Advanced Algebra 2/ Trig., or Honors World History. I may have been brought up by super smart people, but I definitely wasn't super smart.

I know I only have to stay here for two more years, so I probably won't make it to my junior year here. My dad was risking being found out by staying here to long. It's been four years since we've moved and after two more, it will be kind of pushing it.

If only my brothers and sisters were going to school with me. They promised me that next year they were, but I can't wait for next year. Maybe I can convince dad to let them come earlier, like at the semester. That way, I will only have to wait about twenty weeks. It was so unfair. I knew that Rosalie, Alice, Emmett, Jasper and Edward all wanted to go to school with me, but would never go against Carlisle.

I let my thoughts drift to last night. How sweet Vladimir's lips had tasted against mine was still branded in my head. What am I going to do? Would he even remember me? Would he actually like me? Would I like him back, or could I still be traumatized by Christian's power? And Christian! It was so weird, thinking about Christian but not getting that warm, sensual feeling that usually tagged along with my memories of him. Would we still be friends? Would I even still like him? I couldn't imagine being friends with a person who deliberately controls peoples' feelings.

Why was I even worrying about these guys? The school has over two thousand students, a thousand of which were guys. All of which were my age or older. I smiled. What better way to get over past crushes than getting new crushes? And if it led to a second boyfriend, I wouldn't complain.

I loved having a boyfriend. I remember being able to call Scott at any time, and just talk about nothing, and he would profoundly interested, in the beginning, that is. I remember making out on my bed. Awkward and clumsy, though it may have been (we were pretty shy about touching each other, so we usually just held hands or held each other's shoulder), it was still a lot of fun; especially since we were always on edge of my siblings coming in and yelling at us.

I laughed. No more clumsy Bella. Well, maybe that can't be helped, but I would at least try to act older. I would try to be more outgoing and confident. And if that didn't work, I would always have my siblings to be friends with next year, and a new town in the year after that.

"What are you doing, you freak?" Emmett asked, laughing, and he bombarded my room.

I laughed and promptly got off my bed.

Edward pulled up to the school. I took a big breath and looked at him with fearful eyes. "Please come with me?" I begged in a small voice. I looked at him with wide and pleading eyes.

Edward groaned. "Don't do this to me, Bella. You know we want to go with you. But just get through this first year, and we will be joining you next year. And then after that, we move. And then we can start over, but this time all together. Okay?"

I slammed my head against the headrest and then winced at how hard I did it. Nice, Bella. Let's get a concussion on your first day of school. Edward just laughed.

I turned toward the window. In the distance I saw Tally, Becky and Alexandra. They were waiting for me at our designated meeting spot. I didn't want them to be late for class, so I reluctantly opened the door.

"See you later," I said under my breath, knowing that Edward would hear it. I slung my Marc Jacobs black oversize tote on my shoulder and headed into the unknown.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"I love your belt, Bella," Tally commented. Her blond hair was cut to her shoulders, making her cheekbones look sharper.

"I love your hair, it's awesome, really," I said, in awe. She looked gorgeous. She smiled, gratefully.

"Come on, let me introduce you to some people," she said. "This is Evan, Michael and Natasha, and this is Damien." She looked at me when she said his name, and I knew instantly that he was her new object of affection. I looked at his messy _blue_ hair and tried very hard not to cringe. But other than that, he was pretty cute. I personally thought Scott was hotter, who was now talking to Camille, but I could see how Tally liked him. He had a sweet smile and was tall, with soft hazel eyes.

"Oh my, you're hair reminds me of a smurf," I said, jokingly. He looked up and glared at me. Whoa. I guess he was sensitive. "I'm Bella," I directed at Evan, Michael and Natasha. But Natasha and Michael were currently making out. This could take some getting use to.

"Are you a sophomore?" Evan asked. His orange hair reminded me of Alexandra's, who was now with Scott and Camille and other people from our old school. I wondered briefly if those two would be interested in each other.

"No, freshman. You?" We were just making small talk, probably because we just stood there awkwardly while Michael and Natasha were making out next to us.

"Junior."

"Oh, do you know Amanda, Lina and Cassandra?"

"Yeah, they're cool. Except Cassandra's a piece of work," he laughed. We spent a few minutes laughing about our similar experiences with Cassandra. The warning bell rang and we grudgingly walked into the large bricked building. I had first period with Tally so we walked side by side.

"So, what do you think of Damien? Crush potential?" Tally asked. We weaved through groups of kids, some small, many big. We probably looked like two deer in the headlights, trying to find our classes. We both had Honors English with Mrs. Ives.

"Why are you even asking me? It's obvious that you're already fawning over him," I laughed and then locked eyes with a tall, dark and handsome fellow. Yum, I love high school.

Tally looked alarmed. "Is it really that obvious? He's a junior, he probably thinks I'm just a silly girl with silly adoration for him. Oh, no."

"Don't worry, Tally. It wasn't that obvious, only to me, because you're one of my best friends. And I'm sure he likes you, you want to know how I know?" I paused. "He talks to you. I tried to say one thing to him, and he glared at me like I was the devil."

"But he's actually a really fun guy to be around. Everyone loves him," Tally said, enthusiastically. Her blue eyes lit up, which were already sparkling because of the shimmery eye shadow she had on.

"I don't know, Tally. He's seemed pretty hostile to me," I said, unsure. There was a group of beautiful guys standing by a class which caught my attention. Oh my.

"Well," she said hesitantly. I wasn't distracted enough to not catch the tone that there was something she wasn't telling me.

"What?"

"He's just heard stuff about you, you know? He was friends with Christian and now he's close to Scott. And Christian was pretty broken up about…I can't remember what Damien told me, but he was upset about something you did." When Tally saw the appalled look on my face, she backtracked. "But it's not a big deal because Christian's moving. I told Damien that you had nothing to do with it, and you two weren't even going out, you guys were just friends. Apparently, Christian just dropped the bomb on everyone last night. He says he's been planning it for a while, but Damien is so stupid, he automatically assumed it was you. I told him it wasn't you, and that you and Christian were close."

My head was spinning. Christian was gone? Hmph, that actually sounds like a good thing. But this Damien guy was really pissing me off. He didn't know anything that was going on and he thinks he can make assumptions like that. And maybe he was right, but he should take another look at Christian. "Wait, when did this all happen?"

"Last night. I kept calling you, but your phone was off. What were you doing?" Tally asked, concerned.

_Uh, freaking out on my family about them not telling me that Christian was a vampire and controlled my feelings so that he could find out if I truly loved him. _Probably shouldn't tell her that, though. "Uh, family game night. Yeah, they wanted me to have my last night of summer be one of family joy," I mumbled. It was ironic because last night was the most not joyous nights of my summer. "So Damien was close with Christian, and now Scott?"

"Yeah, him and Christian were like really close. Damien, Christian and Scott's brother, Nick, and Evan were all like best friends." I wondered briefly if they ever suspected anything about him being a vampire. "And Scott is just friends with him because of Nick. And so he knows about your guys' relationship."

Hmph, I really didn't like this outsider, someone who doesn't even know me, judge my relationships.

I would have responded something along these lines but we walked into the classroom and there was Vladimir. And then there was Tally hugging Vladimir. And then there were girls staring, adoringly at Vladimir. And then there was Valdimir, heading my way.

"Oh Bella, look, Vlad is in our class," Tally exclaimed.

"Oh," I said, flatly.

"I'm Bella," I said, unsure.

"Oh, Bella, you're rich," he laughed. I probably looked at him in horror when he said that. Of course, I was still attracted to him. The beautiful vibrant blue eyes, the chiseled jaw, and tanned, buttery skin that I wanted to run my fingertips over. But after everything that's happened, Vladimir seems like a little more trouble than he's worth. And I definitely don't want to think about the fact that Christian was the one who brought us together. "We just hung out last night, remember? You're too cute." He came over and ruffled my hair. So he remembered. But now he's acting like it was nothing.

I was suddenly angry. He remembered and he still acted like it hadn't happened. Such a fucking player.

"Yeah, just too cute," I said and abruptly walked away. I wasn't his little pet. Someone he just uses and throws away. All that stuff he said about wanting me was bullshit. He just wanted to hook up with me again. Well, I would never make that mistake again.

I went to sit down in a chair in the front, waiting for class to begin. Other students started filing in. I overheard Tally's and Vladimir's conversation when I left.

"What's up with her?" Vladimir asked.

"I don't know. You know Bella told me what happened last night," Tally informed him.

"She did? What did she say?" Ugh, I hated that smug tone of voice.

"Stuff." That's my girl. "Are you going to ask her out?"

Vladimir paused. I felt his eyes on me. Stupid boy. I could hear their every word.

"I don't know. What do you think she would say?" Vladimir actually sounded unsure. He sounded like Scott for a second, worried that I might reject them. I took a peak back at them and checked Vladimir out. He was wearing a black sweater over a blue button down oxford, vibrant blue just like the ocean, and his eyes; the sleeves of both were rolled up to his elbows, showing off his tan, boyish, muscled lower arms. His black jeans layed comfortably on his slim hips. His eyes met mine and he just looked so _good_, leaning against the desk, with his converse covered feet propped against the legs. I turned back to the front of the room.

I waited for Tally's answer with Vlad. "I don't know, you'll have to ask her." _No, no, no. You're supposed to say that she would never go out with you in a million years. _Even though it's not true, but a girl had to keep her dignity.

"Maybe I will," he said, cryptically. At that moment, Mrs. Ives called the class to attention. Tally came to sit in the seat next to me. Once she sat down, she raised her eyebrows, asking silently if I had heard that. I nodded and focused my attention to the short, chubby woman with gray frizzy hair standing a few feet from my desk. She was unbelievably unobservant and so didn't even notice that everyone was still talking. I took a deep breath. This would be a very long year.

In my English class, it was all freshmen. Unfortunately, I wasn't that lucky for the rest of the day. My next class, Honors Physiology, contained all sophomores and juniors. I took a placement test for biology, and passed, so my counselor let me skip it.

I saw Lina sitting in the back of the class and sighed in relief. Thank God, someone I knew. Nick was sitting next to her. I took the seat in front of him.

"So, yeah, he just called me last night and was like I'm moving. It makes absolutely no sense," Nick said.

"Bella, did Christian tell you why he left?" Lina asked me.

"What? Um, no. He didn't even call me," I said.

"Oh, that's weird. You two were so close. You must have just not heard your phone," Lina said. She entirely believed this.

"Yeah, that must be it," I said. Nick looked at me suspiciously, but finally shook it off and asked me how the party was last night. He didn't come because he had to finish his summer reading. I gave an impartial response and soon Lina was elaborating. Thankfully, when the teacher called the class to order, he recognized that it was only Lina talking. I felt bad that she got in trouble, but relieved that it was her and not me.

I could already tell that Mr. Henley meant business. I gave him 100% of my attention, knowing that this class would be challenging.

Once the bell rang for nutrition, Mr. Henley asked me to stay after class.

"A freshman?" He asked. I nodded.

"Well, Ms. Swan, I am simply giving you a suggestion, not an order. This is a very fast paced class and I don't know if a thirteen year old will be able to handle it. Maybe you should talk with your counselor, I think she made a mistake. Ninth graders take biology and then most sophomores take chemistry, and then some physiology. I only expect the most advanced sophomores and juniors, not any freshmen," he said. My face reddened in embarrassment.

"I'm fourteen," I said, in a hard voice. "And my counselor assured me that I was well prepared for this class."

"But that is your counselor. Your counselor does not have bachelor's degree in physiology. I do, and I say that you should definitely think about switching to a biology class. One is that is more your speed," he said calmly. He was in his thirties, with a wrinkled suit and unshaven stubble.

"Check my test scores, Mr. Henley. I placed into this class and I will stay in it," I said, confidently.

"Merely a suggestion, Ms. Swan. But, I look forward to grading your first test," he said, ominously.

I walked out, my eyes watering. I'm sure my face was red, with humiliation. I have never been talked down to like that before. With shaking hands, I walked to the bathroom and fixed up my face. I made sure to wipe away the unshed tears and not ruin my makeup. I looked at my reflection. Who is Mr. Henley to degrade me, when he doesn't even know me? I feel like that's happening a lot lately. Vladimir, Nick and now my honors physiology teacher.

I looked down at my schedule. With shaking hands, I took my schedule out. Algebra Two/ Trigonometry, wonderful, another sophomore class. As I began to fix my hair, the bell rang. I had seven minutes to get to class.

This time I just tried to get to class and didn't worry about the beautiful people I was passing. I walked through the door, with my head down, trying not to draw attention to myself. But when I looked up, I found that I caught the attention of a particular boy. Vladimir.

I put down my stuff at a chair and stared at him in shock. I was the only freshman I knew of that earned high enough scores on the placement test to be able to skip Geometry. Vladimir must be in the wrong class.

"What's with the red eyes? Did you miss me that much?" He said, laughing. He came over and sat on my desk, spreading his legs and propping himself up on his elbows. He looked like a gift from God, or the devil, I still haven't decided which yet.

"Are you in this class?" I said, ignoring his last comment. I took out my compact and checked my eyes. The redness had gone down, hardly noticeable even more. A fluttering in my stomach came from the thought that Vladimir observed me intently.

"Yep, apparent the school I went to in Russian prepared me really well, at least that's what my counselor told me. I think," Vladimir said, and looked around him, as if he was telling me some big secret. "She wanted to have sexual relations with me." I merely laughed, and shook my head, portraying that I thought he was being unbelievable. "I'm serious. She was totally coming on to me. And you know the good boy that I am, I never give in to seducing." He looked at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I didn't seduce you, Vladimir," I hissed.

"Sure, that's what you think," he said distractedly, as he placed with the zipper on my bag.

"So, you're really smart then?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, I've been called the next Einstein," I raised my eyebrows. "Just kidding. Naw, I'm average, I'm just going to have to suffer through this year. I'll probably be behind everyone, but oh well," he said, indifferently.

"Well, you know, I could tutor you if you want or something," I said, randomly. What am I thinking? Spending more time with Vladimir is the last thing you need. But his sense of humor and deep eyes just completely captivate me. It was different then the love charm Christian put on us, this wasn't pure physical attraction, it was a little, but I also enjoyed his personality.

"Really?" He seemed really surprised at this. I could practically see his ego getting boosted up about five points. "Then we'll have to make a date."

"Not a date," I said quickly.

"Well, two people going out, of different genders, is generally considered a date."

"Not always."

"But most of the time," he countered.

"Well, then we won't go out. We'll go to your house," I suggested. No way would we go to my house. I could never bring Vladimir over, especially with my whole family hearing our make out session last night.

"Okay, then just give me the time and it's done," he said.

"We'll see," I responded and then turned my back on him, showing that I didn't want to discuss it further. Vladimir got the message walked back to his seat at the back of the room.

Math went well. There was practically no introduction. Automatically, he started lecturing about the first chapter. I liked the class, and I thought I was keeping up pretty well.

When the bell rang, I raced out of the room, trying to avoid any conversation with Vladimir. Who knows? Maybe this time I'll offer to have a sleepover at his house.

Next was Spanish 3/4 honors. That went by in a breeze. My family vacation in Spain last year during spring break definitely helped me. Also, the entire class was freshmen, so everyone was just getting to know everyone.

That class was pretty insignificant. So easy. Although I did appreciate being seated next to a really hot guy. I turned to look at Alexandra, who was in the class with me, and smiled in happiness. She looked on wishfully. Meanwhile, Becky, who sat in front of me, sent me a note.

_Going to your house today?_

_ Definitely. _

Before the teacher could catch us passing notes, the bell for lunch rang. After lunch I had a creative writing class and then water polo practice.

Alexandra, Becky and I walked into the lunch room and scrounged for an open table. Soon we saw Tally and Camille eating with Scott and some other unfamiliar people. But one person I did see was Vladimir. Wonderful. I was counting on lunchtime to be a safe haven of just me and my closest friends, now I had to keep up with the cheerful, first-day-of-school act in front of these new friends. This was definitely not how I pictured my first day of high school. _If only dad would have let Edward come to school with me_, I thought. He would have saved me from this chaos. He would have suggested having lunch outside, on the grass, in peace. But I couldn't think about what could have been. I just lifted my head and showed my teeth in a tight lipped smile.

"Hey, everyone," I said, rather cheerfully. I set my tray down and looked everywhere except at Vladimir. The only problem was that Vladimir was the only one to respond.

"Hello Bella, I hope you've a great first day of school so far," he said leaning back in his chair, and folding his hands behind his head. He stares from all around the cafeteria. Even girls I recognized at seniors were admiring his confidence and beauty.

"It's been perfect," I shot at him, probably with a little too much venom because now the entire lunch table was looking at me. "Sorry, it's just…it's just really hot out, isn't it?" I said directing my cover up question at one of my friends.

"Yeah, sorry that's all me," Vladimir, the only one replying to my greetings, said. I rolled my eyes and set down my bag next to a chair, as far away from him as possible. When I sat down, Camille nudged my arm and leaned over to whisper in my ear.

"Bella, Vladimir is so flirting with you. I thought you liked him, why are you being so cold?" She whispered. She was looking at Vladimir while telling me this, making it very obvious that we were talking about him. Nice, Camille.

"I don't like him anymore," I mumbled.

"Why?"

"I'll tell you after school. You're coming over right?" I asked her.

"What's this? A party at Bella's house?" a guy I noticed as Scott's friend from middle school said.

"No way, not with my family. They'd murder me if I had a party," I told them, glad to be off the subject of Vladimir.

"What are you talking about, Bella? You know Alice has been begging you to throw a party," Alexandra said from across the table.

It's true, Alice really wanted to throw a Halloween party for me, but I adamantly said no.

"No way am I letting her throw a party. She goes crazy. I don't think you guys understand," I said, as I uncovered my container of cold pasta that Esme packed me.

"But she's so much fun. We all would have so much fun planning it and everything!" Becky said, excitedly. "Please, Bella, please!"

"_We _wouldn't do anything, Alice probably won't even let us touch the guest list," I responded.

"Guest list? This is an open party, anyone can come!" Tally said.

"No, no and no," I said. "It's not just Alice that goes crazy, Emmett, Jasper, Edward and my dad probably won't let any boys through the door. And there is no way in hell could any illegal substances, including weed or booze, can even get within a mile of my house."

"We could have a sober party," Alexandra said, weakly.

"I don't think that will be too popular in high school," I mumbled.

"Seriously, we could just have a really small party, like just us. It won't be as much fun, but I mean what else are we gonna do on Halloween?" Alexandra said.

"I guess that will be okay. We could just watch movies and stuff like that," I said, thinking over all the possibilities. Maybe a small party wouldn't be too bad.

"And play spin the bottle," Tally said, slyly.

"Tally! No! Okay, we are not having it at my house, because I know there is no amount of pleading I can do with you guys to keep yourselves off of each other," I announced, holding up my hands. Yeah, there is no way Esme and Carlisle are going to appreciate a bunch of teenage kids kissing in their house.

"We could do it at my house," Vladimir said. I was surprised he had kept quiet this entire time. "My parents are really chill, and will probably leave us alone the whole night. Plus, I have a garage that has a plasma screen TV, where we can be totally alone, for…whatever you guys want, I guess," Vladimir shrugged.

We looked at him like he was crazy. "And why are you just mentioning this now?" Becky asked. He shrugged again. "Okay, its settled Halloween at Vladimir's. Yes! Now we're not losers without plans on Halloween."

"So are you guys dressing up for Halloween?" I asked, unsure.

"Definitely," they all said.

"I just need to think of a costume," I said, thinking of all the creative costumes I could do.

"What about a devil?" Vladimir said, absentmindedly.

I shot a look at him. I liked him so much more when he didn't talk.

"I was thinking for me, jeez," he said. "Don't you think it will be cute? A short little red skirt and fishnets?"

"So fruity, dude," Scott laughed. Him and Scott started thinking of a boys JV water polo team costume. Their ideas consisted of Chipendales, gay policemen, colors of the rainbow, and male hairdressers. I just shook my head. (**a/n: that's what the water polo teams at my school always do. So hilarious.**)

"We should do something, us girls," I suggested to them.

"That is such a good idea," Camille said. "How about Playboy bunnies?"

I wrinkled my nose. "How about we are a little more discreet on the sluttiness?"

"Right."

"What about sailors?" Alexandra suggested. For the rest of lunch we debated which costume would be the best idea.

The bell rang and we parted ways, agreeing to meet after school.

During creative writing class, I let my mind wonder. The class wasn't too exciting. We were just going over what the upcoming year would bring. I thought about Vladimir's Halloween party, I thought about what we could wear and ultimately I thought of Vladimir. I can handle him. I can ignore him and roll my eyes at him and be completely turned off by all his efforts, I concluded. I can be unfazed by his gorgeous looks and body and charm. I can look at him and not get lost in his deep blue eyes. I can.

This is what I kept telling myself as I walked to the swim gym for water polo practice. I knew I probably won't actually get in the water, since it's not the girls' season and so the boys will have priority.

I sat with Lina and Amanda, listening to them talk about their day, but not actually listening. I was more interested in watching the boys deck change. I already went through an entire summer of watching them change, but it just never gets old.

I absentmindedly watched their practice with the other girls, not paying too much or too little attention to Vladimir and his wonderfully tan, muscled body. The other freshmen girls, except me, paid special attention to their technique. When the bell rang, I found myself thinking that that was the longest class all day and I didn't even have to do anything.

I recognized Edward's Audi and signaled to him that I was just waiting for my friends. We had to wait a few minutes for Camille, who got lost on the way. We teased her all the way until the car of being the typical freshman.

The four of them squished into the backseat while I rode shotgun. I turned to Edward and let out a deep sigh.

"I'll tell you about it later. Let's go home."


End file.
